Personal Narrative: My Experience With Mr. Bies

My high school career took a terrible turn and probably would of stayed that way until I met Mr.Bies.

He was my teacher back when I was in the 10th and 11th grade and I met him in the beginning half of the first semester of my sophomore year because I had asked to do online schooling due to my anxiety.Now don’t get me wrong, I am a very laid-back and carefree type of person, but that 10th grade year I just could not shake my feelings of stress. This sometimes would cause me to have anxiety attacks, but then there was Mr.Bies to my surprise he was just as laid- back,slightly goofy as me but yet kind of inspiring.

Now just to recap, Mr.Bies was my 10th through 11th grade teacher and I met him during a very stressful time of the school year for me. Ok, now back to it ; when I entered his class for the first time I was a bit unsure about how this will go when this tall,bald man in glasses walked up to me and greeted me.He did this in a very relaxed manner which

was somewhat opposite to mine; as he explained to me more about the class I notice how laid-back he was just by his tone of voice. Also I saw how almost carefree he was about the rules but mainly at the same moment I knew that I was in the right place.
Flashing ahead to the beginning of the second semester to be honest, I was doing okay, but not good enough for my standards.Ironically this was also the same time that Mr.Bies truly became my mentor.I remember on a particularly normal Thursday afternoon, my teacher started to share with my class about his past experiences and his tough childhood and about how through hard work he was able to achieve his peaceful place in life.Then a few weeks later he inspired me by telling the class that “through hard work and dedication You can accomplish anything.”for me personally I took this statement to heart.
The statement “You can accomplish anything with hard work and dedication.” told to me by my teacher made me realize that I need to increase my level of dedication to my work. I felt that I had finally had a breakthrough and was able to accomplish my goals in but even with that awakening I still didn’t believe it.
However, I do recall a small conversation me and Mr.Bies once had in which came about when I unknowingly said aloud “All-man!...I am never going to catch up in this class.”and upon that same moment I suddenly heard someone say “yes..

you will.”.As I looked up from my laptop only to see Mr.Bies standing there in which I replied “No...I’m not,I don’t understand this stuff.” as a look of aggravation came upon my face. He then calmly replied before walking away to assist another student “ I know you this stuff... all you have to do is work a bit harder,and dedicate more time to your studies and I’m positive you’ll come out victorious in the end”.

The words of my mentor echoed inside my head ever since that day and completely changed my outlook on school. In the next weeks to the end of the school year that followed I applied and transformed those words into a state of pure focus.As a result passed all of my remaining classes,I blew through those assignments like a jet soaring across the open

sky.
Then, the next year when I entered my junior year I used those echoing words and set my dedication level to maximum efficiency it was as if a waterfall of calmness washed over me.I showed up early every day,and due to this I completed all of my classes plus the writing assignments,and even took an extra class for extra credit all before the school year was over.Except, the number one thing I remember about that day was that before I left the class for the final time my mentor,Mr.Bies said to me “You deserve this break , you have worked so hard and I am truly proud of you.”
My high school career did take a terrible turn and would have definitely stayed that way if I wouldn’t have met Mr.Bies.
Currently, I find myself stopping by his class during my senior year, every Friday,sometimes earlier if I have the time just to ask “what’s going on in the class?” or like “what’s new with you?”. He always asks me about how I’m doing back at the high school and he’ll also ask me about my anxiety control so i'd tell him. Then he will give me some small piece of advice before I get to say “I’ll check you later” on my way out.
Now in this day and age, the statement “Everyone has a mentor out there somewhere.” currently being stated by my English teacher.Mainly for me this is very important because you never know when or where you may meet your mentor. So in my opinion, I feel that we as the younger generation should pay close attention to our older peers we meet in our lives.Lastly, my final statement is that my mentor Mr.Bies has helped me believe that I can accomplish anything if I only put my heart and soul into all that I do.