Meetings with Remarkable People - Part 3
March 13, 2025
Meetings with Remarkable People Part 3
Have you had any remarkable teachers? If so, you know the kind of impact they can make. It could have been the entire subject they taught, or it could have been one remark to you, or one conversation they had with you. Whatever the impact, it stuck with you in some “remarkable” way and their impact influences you to this day.
My fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Melba Herring, was a remarkable person to me. When I entered her class at Dickson Elementary School in Mobile, Alabama, I had very little confidence in my intellectual abilities. The year before, my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Jones, told me I had plenty of “horse sense,” a remark that made a lasting impression on me. We take to heart anything about ourselves when we are young and looking for feedback. So, I inferred that horse sense meant the capability of reasoning well, but that was the extent of it. In other words, for Mrs. Jones, I was not on the level of the smartest pupils such as Dennis, who not only made straight As, but played the piano, or Mike who made good grades but was a great baseball player.
Though I learned many valuable things from Mrs. Jones, by the fifth grade, I had an intellectual inferiority complex. I didn’t think I had what it took to excel. As a result, I suffered internally as well as socially. I didn’t accept myself, therefore, how could I expect others to accept me? Mrs. Herring must have sensed my lack of confidence in my academic ability and my low self-esteem.
One day, she asked me to stay for a few minutes after the final bell rang. In our conversation she said, “Joseph, you are as smart as anyone in this room. People have different kinds of intelligence. And your grades can be as good as you want them to be. If you believe in yourself and if you think about the subject, you can master anything you want to learn.” I couldn’t believe she knew what was happening inside me; I couldn’t believe that I even mattered to her that much, and I couldn’t believe she would take the time to stay after school to have a one-on-one meeting with me.
In essence she believed that I was as intelligent as anyone in the class, including Dennis and Mike. She believed that I mattered. Her belief in me changed everything for me. I began to make good grades and, except for arithmetic, did very well.
Recently I was looking at old grammar school report cards my Mom saved for my brother Trevor and me. Sure enough, in Mrs. Herring’s room, my grades improved every quarter. Her last note was, “Joseph has shown tremendous improvement this year.”
One false belief about ourselves in childhood can chart the course of a lifetime. And in childhood, one profound affirmation from someone we respect can steer us in the direction of our true purpose. I remember on the last day of school of the fifth grade, I stayed in our classroom after all my classmates said their goodbyes and marched into the summer sun. Mrs. Herring was finishing some things at her desk. I was sad to lose someone who had literally brought me from being a limited boy with only horse sense to someone who knew how to think and who now thought well of himself. I recall my feeble attempt at telling Mrs. Herring that I would miss her and that I was grateful for what she did for me. Maybe she knew what that 10-year-old boy was trying to say to her. Come to think of it, I am sure she knew.
Spiritual practice: Do you recall any of your grade school or high school teachers? What about scout leaders or Sunday school teachers? What about summer recreational, extracurricular, sports, or Bible School teachers? As you scan these, who were the most remarkable to you? Did any make a lasting life changing impression? If so, what was it? How did they shape your soul?
Self-inquiry: Why do you think some affirmations you are given immediately resonate with your soul?
Dear God,
As I ponder all the people in my growing-up years, Mrs. Herring helped me in profound ways. Her talent went beyond the teaching of information—she was a life coach before they had that name. For her caring and for all teachers who care like her, I give thanks. I pray that her life is always an inspiration for me. In your name, Amen
