A Time When I Learned to Like Something
edit(I am currently a student at Everett Community College and as a preliminary exercise in my English 102 class I have been tasked to describe a time when I learned to like something I initially disliked.)
My elementary school career was defined by my 4th and 5th-grade years. For those are the two years I endured the infamous Ms. Hylpo. Her stringent policies are the reason I remember how to spell her name to this very day. Notoriously known to be the cruelest and most unyielding of teachers at our school, I learned first-hand that the rumors were all too true.
By midway through our first year, our class was a well-trained unit comparable to a platoon under the command of their drill sergeant. Any demonstration of behavior resembling a 10-year-old child was promptly reprimanded. If you were unfortunate enough, you would earn a private lecture in the hallway. No victim ever came back with the will to smile for the rest of the day.
Upon reflecting on the ordeal, I admit that I still cannot justify her methods to produce disciplined students. However, I can conclude that it exposed me to a real-world challenge. Dealing with unlikable authority figures is a skill we all inevitably learn. I just happened to learn it before middle school.
Additionally, it taught me how to make the best of a situation. No matter how terrifying it seems at the time. It is because of that class I have my two closest friends. As it turned out, our fear of Ms. Hylpo instigated the friendship we continue nearly a decade later. Occasionally, we still exchange stories of those two years and the legend of Ms. Hylpo endures.