The nominee in which I have chosen is my old English teacher Ms. ParMar from Northridge Academy High. This woman was the one teacher who I generally looked up too and was inspired by, she made literature seem like a fun learning experience and not as a 2-hour lecture. Although Ms. ParMar’s style was basic, somehow, in some way, she managed to touch each and every student's heart and soul when she stepped out into that classroom.

  However, Ms. ParMar made it known to never be disrespected or talked over, and yes there were always those students who managed to push her buttons here and there once in a while, but she never let it get in the way of her teachings. I remember a time where I was placed in her women in history class as an elective. I was new to the school, eager to learn and easily fit into her teaching strategies. As a course grade final, we were all expected to perform in front of the entire student body and present our piece of whom we had chosen to impersonate in our presentation as a well-known woman in history. I had chosen Marilyn Monroe, a very well known iconic woman with numerous amount of talent bursting from her name. Let's just say I had great big shoes to fill, I had never been more nervous in my entire life. Forget the stress of an SAT exam, this had me running for the hills.

  Furthermore, in our practiced performances on stage, when it began time for it to be my turn, I had completely refused to set a foot on stage. Ms. ParMar saw my nervous state and somehow talked me into getting up on stage for just rehearsals at least, as this was a part of my final course grade and to fail it would be a complete waste of time. I gathered my courage and focused on what she had told me and got through it.

  However, when the big day finally came I was sweating bullets as usual, but remembering what she had told me gave me confidence, she said: “ don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone because if you're always in it, you will never grow.” Keeping that in my mind I successfully got through the performance and received an A-plus on my course grade, thanks to her motivation.

  In contrast, she was always the “get straight to the point” type of teacher. No one knew what the word “excuse” meant in her classroom. Ms. ParMar was always there for us, not only in the classroom but outside as well. She was like a mother to us all in a way, and would always give students a chance for extra credit, but I'm not talking the super easy extra credit, I’m talking about the kind where you would need to put in the extra time and work to get it done and to get it done well. She was very intrigued by Literature as if she was born to do it. Ms. ParMar would always explain to us the different aspects of literature and why each and every one is important in its own unique way. Something as simple as the Ethos, Pathos, Logos theory, is something we have all used to get what we want or need in life. 

  In some ways, she would offer other students different strategies to help with their way of learning. Such as if some students find it hard to concentrate and read a book she assigned, she would offer audio voice recordings from websites of the book to make it much easier for students. Ms. ParMar was always a woman of the community, and never let a student feel left behind or separated from a group. She was also a very hands-on activity type of teacher, which In my opinion was a very fun and rewarding way of learning. We all bonded as a class and we felt like a family, we would all laugh, learn, teach, present, together as a unity, and when the time came for us to grow and learn to stand on our own two feet we all supported each other, especially Ms. ParMar.

  Unfortunately, a time came when Ms. ParMar had to leave the school, due to her and her husband adopting a lovely young boy from Thailand, and days later she was finally able to celebrate a Mothers Day. We all felt extremely sad but yet happy for her when it came time for us all to say our goodbyes. She was the one teacher who truly impacted my life and taught me extremely valuable lessons that I will cherish and never forget. So it is for this very reason why I chose to nominate my teacher Ms. ParMar.