Dear English Teacher by Gretta

Dear English Teacher by Gretta - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

For years, I completely believed I was the world’s worst writer. I had convinced myself that growing up learning English as a third language, caked with my struggles with dyslexia, made every string of words I ever conjured up a complete and total disaster.

It wasn’t until junior year that my sentiments towards my writing changed.

Courage from my sophomore year led me to sign up for AP English Language and Composition my junior year. After the first few days, I didn’t know what to expect. I had made the jump from two years of an academic English class to an advanced one. Rumors had it that my assigned teacher, Mrs. Settle, was the most difficult grader in my school.

So, to succeed, I made a plan to pursue her advice relentlessly to ensure I would pass the class, regardless of if she ended up hating me for always nagging her with questions. But to my surprise, that wasn’t who she was. Mrs. Settle was always patient with my questions. Anytime I would come to her asking the words, “Tell me how I can make this better,” or, “Give me brutal advice to improve,” she always did. Mrs. Settle was ready to give me a listening ear and a mouth full of advice to refine my work. It became clear to me that she didn’t see my struggles but instead my potential as a writer, and that changed me. So, naturally, I began to improve.

I started noticing shifts in my essay grades, and most importantly, my attitude towards writing. I started to enjoy brainstorming ideas for prompts and writing my thoughts on matters in a way I never did before. She helped me to recognize a path to finding my voice that I never anticipated, one that I never thought I was capable enough to have. So, whether it was on lined paper or a blue-tinted laptop, it became easier to share myself through written words.

One day, Mrs. Settle assigned a style write over Zora Neale Hurston’s “How it Feels to Be Me.” The assignment instructions were clear: use the elements from the passage and recreate it using your own experiences. However, this proved rather difficult. I couldn't find anything astounding that represented who I was, and the weight of the grade was enough to make me stressed. So, I consolidated all her advice and wrote about the simplest topic: how it feels to be a student. After submitting the assignment, the monstrous emotions of being a terrible writer came back.

“My essay isn’t unique enough.” “I’ll fail this assignment.” “I hope it's good enough.”

But the results changed my perspective. She had given me full marks, a grade I had never achieved over my own writing, encouraging me on how much she loved it. She even emailed my father and told him that this was among one of the best essays she had ever read from her students.

Her words vanished my doubt, and her tremendous help throughout the year nullified the identity I had of being a bad writer.

Since that day, I have been accepted into the English Honor Society at my school, submitting an essay I had written in confidence. I have created over two unpublished academic articles and am currently working on a research paper in AP Research with none other than Mrs. Settle. I truly believe that without Mrs. Settle, I would not have the confidence to be bold in my writing, nor even in myself, which is why Mrs. Settle had the most significant impact on my education.