Going to school has always been hard for me. I have never felt comfortable in the four walls of any classroom. I try to sit in the back row, invisible from the teacher, hoping that they don't call on me. With that came missing a lot of school. I would get too anxious before or during school and would leave, I was at the attendance window pretty often.

Junior year at Arrowhead High School I got marked absent for a class I was there for. Mrs. Young, the attendance secretary, didn't believe me so she checked the cameras. Sure enough I was there. Mrs. Young then came up to me during lunch and sincerely apologized. But it was okay. I knew it was just an accident, I couldn't imagine dealing with all those kids and having to track down when and where they were on a daily basis.

Senior year came around and I missed more school than I should have. I was having multiple bad days a week. Mrs. Young never questioned or judged me; she would write me a pass and I would be on my way. This made me feel comfortable at school, knowing that if I needed to leave it would be okay.

Mrs. Young always greets me with “Hi Cali” and ends with “Have a good day” or “I hope you feel better.” She probably thought I was just skipping school for fun, but she never knew the impact of her saying “Have a good day.”

There were days when I needed to hear that and she gave it to me. School is hard for plenty of people, kids are constantly coming to school late or leaving early and every one of them have to talk to Mrs. Young. She is able to make small impacts on multiple students without knowing just by saying a few simple words.

She is one of the few people I feel like I don't have to explain myself to. You can have a five minute conversation with her and you are able to tell that she cares. She wants kids to succeed and she feels for you. She would listen to you with no judgment. This taught me that teachers do care. Mrs. Young is a kind person, she deals with lots of students per day and is still able to be a wholehearted person.