Jorge

“When I was in seventh grade, my father moved to Puerto Rico. When he stepped out, [my math teacher], Mr. Rynn, stepped in in a big way, in a way that I didn't realize until much later in my life, [until] I became a teacher. Mr. Rynn was a huge part of who I became - why I became who I became.

You hear of students’ fathers passing away or leaving the home. You get that information the morning after and you're working in the trenches in real time. You pick up on the cues and you realize you are filling certain roles.

I think Mr. Rynn looked out for me more than other teachers. I remember Mr. Rynn [one] recess: September, 7th grade, pulling me aside and pretty much just asking me, why my grades were so low.

‘It's September, it's a new year. What can we do to change this? You can get better grades.’

And I said, ‘No, that's my sister’s thing, I'm not an academic.’ And he said, ‘Well, your sister graduated top of her class. So she's number one. It's in your family. You can definitely do this.’ It wasn't, ‘Be your sister’ or, ‘Hey, your grades are terrible. You can do better.’ It was more, ‘Hey, have you ever reframed the way you think about yourself? Let's talk about what you can accomplish.’

It never occurred to me that I could be that person, but after that conversation, that was it. I became a straight-A student. It just took one adult in my life to see something different.

Reframing is a really powerful tool, right? You can do it at any moment in your life, but you can also do it for other people.  I use that from time to time. If I see a student struggling. I have that Mr. Rynn moment.

A lot of it is planting seeds. Seeds [were] planted in me to be able to grow into this compassionate, emotionally intelligent educator. And I'm slowly expanding that with the work that I do here. I can just plant seeds and then watch [them] blossom later on.”