Junior year was full of successes and failures and high and lows. Coming to a new campus brings up all the same emotions as freshman year. I was now surrounded by a whole new group of seniors with an ego the size of a football field.

New teachers and new courses had my head spinning. Along my path of, I met a giddy old gym teacher and football coach: Mr. Taraska. Little did I know he was soon to be one of my favorite teacher’s throughout my 12 years of schooling.

He was a simple man who enjoyed life. The smile and laugh he had said it all. Mr. Taraska always had something positive to say, whether it was advice or just a simple joke. I remember him having us laughing for hours on end. I looked forward to his gym class everyday.

The reason why it was a memorable time for me was because gym class was a place where I could be comfortable in my own skin. There was no strive for attention or first place because we were all winners in his eyes. Even though he was at least fifty years older than me, he was a teacher who I was myself with. He was a teacher I connected with and a teacher who taught me not only about life, but about myself.