How to Survive (LGBTQ+)

Señorita

I wanted to write this about high school.

Particularly, a teacher I had at my school who really helped me.

I met my favorite teacher my sophomore year of high school, and words can't express how happy I am that I got to have her twice. Spanish class was insane with her, and I'm so, so happy that I got the best teacher ever.

She's one of those people that you love or hate. You can dread her class every day, or look forward to it, but you know that you'll take out what you put into it. Without her, I think I'd be a little bit more lost.

She was brazen. She's 100%, unapologetically herself, and that's what I admire so much. She's told us she doesn't give a shit about what people think, and it's not like she's lying about it. True, she wore Ugg boots in April with knee length dresses, but it was so...her, I guess. It looked good because she was confident and always laughing over a joke or pun she made in Spanish.

She drilled that shit into us, oh my god. But she got us damn close to being fluent, and without her I'd still be learning about vegetables and wondering why Spanish has to use subjunctive.

God, she'd stick her neck out for any of us. She had to deal with so much shit at my school. She was ridiculed and undermined, and people would be awful to her. The administration got pissed at her because she defended us, her students, rather than caring about how much money she brought in from national exams and AP scores.

Although, it's not like they should have given her shit. Nobody who takes her AP class gets below a 3, and most kids get a 4 or higher; she works her ass off to make damn sure of that (Although I'm worried I'll be that one kid to fuck it up and get a 1). She took us gringos and made us understand a new culture, a new perspective on life and how we deal with it. We learned about the Spanish Civil War, and cried over Mariposa together. We read El Niño and hated her for making us read such a depressing story, we laughed at the scenes in Valentín.

I owe her a lot. She's hands down the best teacher I've ever had in my life. She had no problem treating us like adults, and she expected a hell of a lot from her chicitos.

And I'm proud to say we didn't let her down.

She might be leaving for a new school this year. The teachers and faculty have been so bitter to her that she doesn't know if she can handle it anymore. I hated telling her this, but I told her she should really think and do what's best. She's dedicated so much of herself to us, and it'll suck not seeing her like I used to at school. But the farthest thing I'd want is for her to start resenting the school and feel dejected about her work. And I know she'd hate that, too.
Ven hasta que todo esté mejor, señorita. Siga sus sueños y solo deseo que nosotros estamos en su corazón cuando crea de su casa pasado, su escuela pasado.

But one of the things that really made her stand out was when she found out I was gay. I was scared, to be honest, because I knew she was conservative but didn't know about how she felt about us gays. She was so proud of me, though.

Kind of want to cry, thinking about how awesome she was.

She told me how awesome it was, and she hugged me. She asked about my story and what it's been like. She asked about things so respectfully and really listened.

Some teachers really go above and beyond.

Gracias a mi profe favorita, para todos los días de clase y como me afectaron. Está la mejor con todo.

Besos.