Like My Teacher Always Said… by Eric McHugh

I will never forget how our tiny elementary school teacher Mrs. G. terrified us, especially when she stood on a chair in front of the class waving a ruler frantically and shouting, “I am going to annihilate you!” as her face turned beet red. Bewildered and terrified little creatures that we were, we had no idea what the meaning of “annihilate” was or what fate was destined to befall us. But we got the picture—it wasn’t good! And we were good kids!

Contrast that with my kindergarten teacher, the beautiful Mrs. R., with a huge blonde pompadour, who played the piano and sang

childhood favorites as we rolled out our little blankets on the floor at naptime. Inspiring? Maybe not to anyone else, but the wonderful energy of Mrs. R. and the memorable images of that sunlit room at naptime bring tears to my eyes decades later.

– LILLIAN

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Frequently with life lessons or special moments, you don’t even realize they’re happening until some time—often years—has gone by. Such is often the case for students: Anything from an important ethical point to the most off-handed comment can stick with a pupil and become a watchword or standard for a lifetime.

PARENTS AND ALL ADULTS, WATCH YOUR WORDS SAID IN FRONT OF CHILDREN!

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A classmate of mine raised her hand in class and said, “Dr. C., I don’t have all the information I need to make this decision.”

Dr. C. replied, “If you had all the information you needed, there wouldn’t be a decision to make. Decisions are about making a choice of what to do based on what you know, and what you think is the best course.”

– BRIAN on Dr. C.

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“Hard work beats talent every time, and brings talent to new levels.”

– MR. G. to Dylan

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“Dare to be different,” Mrs. H. said to me in high school when I began hanging with some “not-so-good” kids.

– MARILYN on Mrs. H.

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“Never pass the first clean bathroom stall,” my kindergarten teacher taught us. As you can imagine, it has become a valuable piece of advice throughout life.

– ALICIA on Mrs. T.

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“Inch by inch, life’s a cinch.”

– MRS. H. to her students

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I had a drawing professor my freshman year of college who was known for yelling (maybe screaming) harsh realities at students during model-drawing sessions. The only thing he ever yelled at me was, “You can’t get by on talent alone!” which was terrifying and confusing to my eighteen-year-old self. I think my professor was mostly just messing with me, but was probably also referring to hard work and determination. Being able to draw well isn’t enough to make creative success.

– MARTHA on Mr. D.

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“Character is what you do when no one is looking.”

– MR. B. to Aidan

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So, Mr. C. shows up in class with a black eye.

Me: “Hey, Mr. C. . . . what happened to your eye?”

Mr. C.: “I fell down some stairs.”

Me: “No, seriously, how’d you get that black eye?”

Mr. C.: “You want one?”

Me: “No.”

Mr. C.: “Then I fell down some stairs.”

– JOEY on Mr. C.

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“It’s nice to be important—but more important to be nice!”

– MRS. P. to Helen

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Whenever my class started acting up, I always tried to get them in line by saying, “C’mon, kids! We’ve got oceans to cross and mountains to climb.”

– MRS. H.

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Over the years, when I have spoken with parents—either at school open houses or in individual meetings—I have tried to talk to them about the benefits of social responsibility and service learning. In my experience, when I ask parents what they want for their child’s future, many will say they want their child to be happy. Others will say they want their child to be successful. What I have come to believe is that we should strive to want our children to be not happy or successful, but good—that if they are good people, they will find happiness and success.

– SUE

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As a college consultant, I tell students, “Don’t let those kids who say or act like they already have everything all figured out scare you. They actually have nothing figured out. They just don’t know it yet, so in that way, you’re ahead of the game.”

– ELIZABETH

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“You can wear a burlap sack, but you will be judged on your vocabulary.”

– MISS M. to Denise

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You need help you say? Well PLEASE and THANK YOU is the only way.

You can’t, You can’t mess up in art!”

– JILL on her mother Janis, the art teacher

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My junior high typing teacher:

“When in danger, when in doubt,

Run in circles, scream and shout,

Hit the ceiling, hit the floor,

Then throw yourself right out the door!”

The message was, when you have a problem, instead of freaking out, find a way to deal with it yourself.

– STEFFANIE on Mr. E.

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My freshman year, we had this male biology teacher. Big dude, a booming voice, and it seemed like he always talked at half speed. Inevitably, we arrived at the always-embarrassing human reproduction chapter. He stood up in front of class and said, “I . . . am . . . a walking . . . uterus.

THEEEEEESE”—pointing to his arms—“are my fallopian tuuuuuubes.” It went on from there, and as I’m now in my forties, you can see it made a lasting impression.

– MELISSA on Mr. C.

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My gymnastics coach always cautioned, “If you rest, you rust.”

– BARB on Mr. A.

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I think that my favorite thing my mentor, N., has said to me was, “Stand back and take a look.” What she meant was to keep my perspective, and not get too high or too low.

– ELISA

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“Do something significant today. You can sleep when you’re dead.”

– Trainer RICH to Lisa

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I am a college counselor at an all-girls high school and, of course, my students run the gamut from struggling to brilliant. But year after year, I give them all the same advice, and it’s the advice my father always gave me: “Hold your head high.”

– MRS. B.

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I had brought down the wicked witch! But had I really? In that one moment, she had changed my life. She had made me understand that to lead, you had to love. You had to be bigger than anything around you. You had to find the way in the dark. You had to care. Leading was not edicts, it was caring about the people you led, always introducing the intangibles of life into the equation, always wanting to do the right thing.

– MARY SETON on Sister A.

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I always tell my students, “Letters make sounds, sounds make words, words make sentences, and sentences tell a story!”

– MADELINE

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Here is what I say to my wonderful students who are learning to read: “I could listen to you read all day. Please read that to me again.”

– ELIZABETH

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“MS. COHEN—ELEVATE YOUR MIND FROM THE GUTTER.”

– MR. X to Leslie

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“For those of you complaining that kids have changed, and that it’s harder to teach these days, you’re getting old. You’re getting lazy. These kids haven’t changed, you have! Do. Not. Give. Up. On. These. Kids!”

– BRAD on Ms. S.