2nd Grade had been absolute hell for me. I'd been given over to a pair of absolute witches that made my life miserable. They hated little boys and they despised me for being a smart one. It made me resentful, and I sought revenge. The one lady took early retirement. The other was still talking about me 15 years later. I worked her over but good.
My mom was a primary school teacher. She recognized that I'd gotten hardened by the experience. She went up the summer before 3rd Grade and talked to my new teacher Mrs. Hensel. She told her I needed a good experience in 3rd Grade to get me turned around. Mrs. Hensel did just that.
By this time, teachers were "The Enemy" to me. I quickly found out Mrs. Hensel's weak spot. She had a supreme dislike for spiders. Me? I had a Mattel Thingmaker. I started cranking out plastic spiders and working them into her clothes, her desk, her books. That was just the start. Hensel never gave up on me. It helped that her husband was my Cub Scout Pack Leader. She gave me special attention and got me back on the right track. I always was a bit of a $hit to teachers from then on, but at least she got me toned down a notch or two.
The one thing Hensel did that left the most lasting impression on me was to give me license to seek knowledge for myself. I'd already gone through the entirety of the juvenile section of the Library. My mom had to go up and demand that I had access to the adult stacks. Mrs. Hensel let me go. I was free to read and explore as I wanted as long as I stayed with the class on the projects and tests and stuff.
And you grew up to be a retard.
-The End
