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Like most teenagers, I had a rough transition
to high school. I was fighting the rules at home, unmotivated
to learn at school, and generally feeling pretty confused
and excited all at the same time.
My freshman year at McCallum High School, I
had 5th period honors English class, with a stern teacher
named Martha Hastedt. Most freshmen were quite intimidated
by this lady-she was about 5'11" with silvery hair
and small glasses perched on the end of her nose. She also
made it very clear that she didn't particularly like freshmen,
which did nothing to calm our intimidation. She handed us
the syllabus on the first day of class (which we called
a "silly bus", since we were freshmen and didn't
know any better). My eyes widened as I scanned down the
syllabus, taking in all the literature we were supposed
to read and papers we were supposed to produce all in one
semester. I felt very overwhelmed at the prospect of
the work ahead of me, but also a bit excited at the challenge.
Mrs. Hastedt proved to be a very challenging
teacher but also very encouraging to her students. She
expected 100% efforts from her students and rewarded us
with positive comments and little smiley faces on our
papers when we showed our best work. During my four years
at McCallum, I was blessed to have Mrs. Hastedt 3 times,
as a freshman, junior, and senior. I studied the works of
Thoreau and Emerson, and produced my own "deep thoughts"
assignment. I learned about the sensuality of language
in "The Awakening" and the intensity of fear in
the works of Edgar Allan Poe. But more importantly, I
learned to express myself through words in a way I never
knew possible. I discovered how to use writing in my
coursework to fully explain my ideas and experiences so
others could understand. I also discovered writing on a
personal level, in order to better understand MYSELF.
Due to health problems, Mrs. Hastedt retired
from teaching the year after I graduated from high school.
Though I still live in Austin, I have not been able to track
her down to thank her for the life skill she taught me to
develop through a love of literature and writing.
So on behalf of myself and the hundreds of other students
who passed through her classroom door at McCallum High School,
I'd like to thank Martha Hastedt for her incredible teaching
and dedication to her students.
Thank You!
Lauren Schmidt
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