How a Tough English Class Helped Me Find my Path
As a kid, I was both an avid reader and highly competitive—so when my elementary school hosted a year-long reading contest, my win was (and forgive my lack of humility here) a shoo-in. The award was the greatest I could possibly imagine: a full day to skip classes, find a cozy nook in our school library, and just read.
In high school, though, I grew disconnected from my reading-loving self. With such a busy life in and outside of school, reading and writing lost its appeal.
Then, my senior year, I enrolled in AP Literature & Composition with Mr. R, a teacher notorious for his high standards. On the first day, he handed us a syllabus jam packed with the difficult books we’d read throughout the year, along with essay after essay assignment—beginning with an in-class, 30 minute timed essay.
A sense of panic set in as I realized that somehow, I knew almost nothing about essay writing. My freshman teacher had taught us the building blocks, but I'd somehow had almost no practice in the years since. To my horror, I earned a D on that first essay.
Thankfully, with Mr. R's patient guidance in 1-1 support during office hours, something soon clicked. I began earning Bs and then As. More importantly, my growth in that class extended well beyond timed essays.
Each day, Mr. R brought us a topic or question for an informal discussion. We’d debate or critique a newspaper headline, a comic, a line of poetry, a new movie, a Toni Morrison quote. For those first few minutes of class, we engaged deeply and joyfully in what I later realized was critical thinking.
That year, I fell back in love with reading and writing in new, deeper ways—and the more I read, sought meaning, and expressed my ideas, the more I was able to connect with my own vibrant inner life—that spark that had gotten lost somewhere in adolescence.
Mr. R's class also laid the foundation for my own personal, artistic, and career path. It planted seeds that would later bloom as I wrote literary short stories and then my novel, The Crocodile Bride. It made me a better classroom teacher, inspired my eventual work as a writing tutor, and eventually lead me to approach my work now as a New York City writing coach at Write Well Brooklyn with more depth and energy.
Finally, Mr. R helped me understand that passionate teaching offers not only concrete tools and knowledge—but also the gifts of deeper self-knowledge, confidence, and growth.
Each semester, Write Well Brooklyn offers Writing for Your Future Self, our popular 1-1 coaching program that provides students with tools for reflection, self-expression, and ultimately, a deeper connection to their own humanity.