It was the first day of sixth grade. I kept hearing whispered tales about the infamous Math 7 and Algebra teacher – stories of late nights and insane amounts of work.

A year later, it was my time to meet the woman who had generated all the awe and fear. It was Baun Time. But after the first week of conditioning for the strenuous work ahead, my class was used to Ms. Baun. Clearly, all the rumors were just tales conjured up to scare sixth graders.

Ms. Baun is a hard teacher, no doubt, and her class requires a lot of work. But all that work paid off because it helped me set a good foundation and work ethic. By drilling us day after day, Ms. Baun got concepts through to us, reinforcing everything she taught. By making us show all our work, we could look through our process and see what we did wrong or say, “Hey, I can do it!” Now, I can't break the habit of showing my process.

Ms. Baun isn't just a teacher. She is a master painter, a grand puzzle maker, and a watch wizard. Ms. Baun can start class off on any random whim, twirling about in all sorts of directions, but when the 45-minute period comes to an end, all the parts suddenly connect, it all makes sense, and we understand the lesson. The way she teaches, there is no need to memorize long equations since we can derive them ourselves.

From her uncanny ability to draw freehand circles perfectly to her favorite quote – “Bah humbug” – Ms. Baun charmed our class. No process shown? Bah humbug. No process needed? Bah humbug. The problem is unsolvable? You guessed it – Bah humbug. Without knowing it, Ms. Baun had picked a perfect quote. Scrooge tried to make everyone think he was cruel, but truly he was a big softie, just like Ms. Baun.

Everybody thought that The Baun was a slave driver intent on punishing us with work. Or at least that's how the story went. Ask any former student though, and most likely he'll burst out laughing. You might get the wrong impression when the class falls silent as she enters. But once you get to know Ms. Baun, you understand that the silence is not out of fear, but respect. Ms. Baun is a big mushy marshmallow, but a burnt one with a crusty covering to protect the inside. And burnt marshmallows? Mmmm, my favorite.

Now, one year after leaving Algebra and Ms. Baun, I have realized how much I have taken good teachers for granted. Now in geometry, I'm lazing away since Ms. Baun already taught me everything. I have never had and probably never will have such a good teacher. By showing us how everything worked, she helped her students truly master math. And by mastering math, we can master the world.