Junior year did not start off as the easiest for me.  I had quit playing football and didn't know that many people. I was also dealing with depression, anxiety, and I even had a friend who overdosed on heroin and died; but there was one teacher who helped turn that year around for me: Mrs. Markano. She is the acting teacher for Arrowhead High School.

I joined her class because I needed an art credit and didn't want to do that much work—but her class ended up turning in to the class I actually enjoyed and wanted to be good at it.

Mrs. Markano always makes me feel like I could trust her with anything. Like a mother, she would always be there to do whatever she could do to help me out.  She would also find a way to make class interesting whether it was doing some acting exercises or doing something completely random; no class was ever boering.

The day after I found out my friend had died, I really wanted to skip school.  My parents convinced me to go to school and I had her class.  When her class started, she noticed I was not my normal self and came over and asked, “Is everything alright, Tony?” .  I told her about my friends death and how he died.  She sat next to me for most of that class and told me that, “I’m so sorry for your loss, Tony.  If you ever want to talk about it, let me know.  I’ll be more than happy to help you out.” She also gave me a hug as well. 

Just knowing that she wanted to be there to help me out and cared enough to check on me to make sure I was okay meant everything to me.  It showed me that this wasn't just another class for  her to teach; we were all like a family to her.

Mrs. Markano didn’t only teach me how to be good at acting; she also taught me how to get to know people.  Most of the activities and projects for her class required talking with one another and from that I got really know people I would have not done otherwise.  I started becoming friends with kids who were considered popular, goth, nerds, jocks, kids who were seniors, kids who were sophomores, kids who were bi sexual / gay, and the list goes on.  My eyes were open to how nice and friendly people can be if you just give them a chance and really get to know them.

She showed me a whole new way of making friends and she changed me from being some shy, lonely kid to being a happy, talkative, and confident person.  I even got asked to prom by a  female friend of mine and even got asked to slow dance by two girls I knew.  If you told me a year ago that that would happen I would have said that your full of crap. 

I never did tell Mrs. Markano how thankful I was to have her for a teacher so hear I am now to say thanks you Mrs. Markano, thank you for everything that you have done for me.