The teacher that pushed me the most and offered support when it was most needed was Mrs. Belcher.

Mrs. Belcher was one of my English teachers in college. She taught me in several English classes. She had what I thought was a weird attachment to me. So, I didn’t know what to think of her at first. She had a certain attachment to me because when I first started taking her class, I was a little noisy and sitting at the back, because for me, English was very easy.

At some points, I wasn’t paying attention, and so I think that’s one of the reasons why she became attached to me, because she wanted me to thrive, and she knew that I was good in my other English classes. She would pull me aside and sometimes take me to her car, and she’d be like, “You shouldn’t behave like that; you need to sit at the front of my class”. 

Mrs. Ferguson was my 4th-grade teacher. She was very intimidating and taught with such vigor. She didn’t smile much, but she was a very good teacher. I learned a lot from her, and she was patient. She was the first cousin of Mary McLeod, but then maybe I didn’t understand the significance of that at the time. I missed that I didn’t have an opportunity to delve into her personality. The conversations that you wish you really could have delved into with them a little bit longer. I was just young in 4th and 5th grade and didn’t really appreciate it.