An Unforgettable Teacher

I remember my fourth grade year as if it were yesterday. My homeroom teacher, Mr.

Anderson, would stand at the front of the room each morning at 9:15, and wait

patiently for us to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Then, like clockwork, at

exactly 9:17, as my class of 28 sat down, he would set up a magic trick,

pretending each day that something was going wrong during the set-up. As Mr.

Anderson did this, he would often tell us a story that in some way or another

related to the magic trick he showed us. Then, as he finished the trick, he

would tell us the moral to the story.

Now a days I don't have someone there for me constantly saying what I should or

should not do. I often find myself in situations in which I must be the one to

decide if, for instance, I should go to a party or to the bars, or stay home and

concentrate on the massive amounts of homework that have piled up. It is at

times like these when Mr. Anderson's words of advice float though my head. The

one I hear Mr. Anderson saying most often in the back ...