Take Me To Post Comment Form The summer is quickly winding down, and the aisles of the local stores are now lined with back to school supplies, sales posters and photos of smiling children toting backpacks and textbooks.

I remember my favorite things about school — freshly sharpened pencils, new “Reading is Fundamental workbooks, the smell of the school’s library, and the excitement of the Friday afternoon pep rallies.

I loved anything to do with history, biology and science, and (of course) writing and literature. In school, I was the kid that was always the first to raise my hand to answer the questions that my teachers liked to pose to the class. I also loved to argue, and challenged anything that I could.

The best teacher I ever encountered was my high school English teacher, Ms. Wilson. Unlike some other teachers who were subjected to my hijinks during my educational career, she never let me get away with the verbose, beat-around-the-bush essays I would write on my tests when I had no idea what the right answer was. She addressed me like an adult, and encouraged the growth of my vocabulary and writing skills.

I was never allowed to dominate class discussions in her class, which forced me to listen to the ideas of my peers and exercise patience with them as they dissected the characters that I held in high regard in “The Great Gatsby, “A Moveable Feast and a few other favorite works of fiction.

The biggest and most important lesson that Ms. Wilson taught me was accountability. She had a favorite saying; one that I can still hear her reciting in my head any time I feel that I either can’t or don’t want to do something to the best of my ability:

“Excuses are tools of incompetence; they build monuments of nothingness. Those who excel in excuses rarely succeed in anything else.

To this day, it reminds me to always push to do the best that I can.

I am convinced that everyone has a Ms. Wilson, or a story about their school days that has taught them an important life lesson. We would really love to hear yours.

Share your story on the community.statesboroherald.com Web site, and help kick off the new school year with an amusing story or anecdote.



See you online!