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Tia Lighty
Dr. Spear
English 341
January 27, 2015
The Energizer Bunny
Picture this: A little girl on her first day of school in the fourth grade. She was carrying an
oversized bookbag stuffed with a bunch of unnecessary yet required school supplies such as a
pack of dry erase markers that would never be used. She was so excited about her first day that
her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much. I was that little girl. I knew I wasnt a normal
child because I actually liked going to school. I thought this year wouldnt be any different. I
thought I would love school and my teacher just as much as I had the year before. Until I met my
teacher.
This new teacher seemed to be so mean, dull, and boring. I thought my life was over. She
was very short and stocky with grandma curls swimming all over her head. She had this
permanent monotonous look on her face and spoke with not the slightest bit of enthusiasm. But
nevertheless, I was still as happy as I could be. Then slowly, everyday, she extracted that fire
right out of my energetic nine-year old body. Every morning in class, I would just happen to be
doing something that she didnt like. For some odd reason, she would share it aloud with the
whole class so they would either laugh or just stare. For example, I loved to talk. Whenever I was
done with our morning work, I would just talk to a classmate whether they were across the room
or right beside me. I thought it was okay because I had already done my assignments. So she
would say, Tia, what are you doing?. Then the whole class would look at me. Why cant you
keep your happy bottom in your seat?, she would continue with her monotonous glare. Of

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course I would try to justify my actions by pointing out that I was done with my work. Hop
back to your seat, Energizer Bunny! would be her final reply. My love for school began to
deteriorate and I began to focus on not being my normal bouncy self, while I was in school that
is. I hated being reprimanded for talking or simply enjoying myself in the classroom The teacher
would periodically look at me to make sure I was on task and I would look back at her with sad
Eeyor eyes.
I felt misunderstood in this classroom, in a new school, surrounded by people who I
thought were smarter and more behaved than I. I never purposely got into trouble and with this
teacher, my opinion didnt matter. She never even tried to listen! This made me dislike her very
much. Even to a point where I would go home and complain to my mother every day. She just
doesnt like me Mama! All she does is picks on me. Even when Im not doing anything, she
looks at me like she hates my guts. I honestly didnt see what this teachers problem was. I
would simply be talking to a neighbor or enjoying a nice group conversation with my classmates.
And the teacher would just get so upset and leave a long note in my agenda that I was incapable
of reading (she had a horrible handwriting).
This happened almost every day, which made my mother believe either I was developing
a behavior problem aside from my other disorder (we had just discovered the year before that I
had ADHD) or something was really up with this teacher of mine. Weirdly enough, at our first
parent-teacher conference, my teacher informed my parents how smart and bright I was for my
age. She also mentioned the fact that I had diarrhea of the mouth but that was something my
mom already knew. I was totally appalled and the praises she had given me. For a while, while
she and my mom were talking, I just looked at her thinking, This is unbelievable! I didnt even
know how to feel. Should I be happy because of all the nice things she was saying about me? Or

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should I be angry because she never even so much as smiled during regular school hours?
Needless, to say my teacher and my mother came to some mutual agreement on how to help me
perform my best in school, and when we left, all I remember was my mother saying. Tia, I dont
understand why you would say those awful things about her. I think shes a very nice lady.
She had reeled my mom in. Poor momma took the bait! My life was really over now. She
was never gonna believe another word I said about this lady. Oh and she did mention that your
behavior was improving, keep it up. Oh. My. Gosh. At that moment I knew I had to something
that would benefit everyone. something that would allow me to be myself and my mom and
teacher would be happy also. With plenty of observation and trial and error, I had produced the
perfect routine that allowed my energizer bunny to finally roam free without being called out.
Well, for a limited time of course, but that was totally fine with me. I had learned the teacher's
schedule perfectly. I knew exactly we she would move to different spots in the classroom as the
day went on. I knew when she was paying attention to the class and I even knew the amount of
time that she would have her back turned looking at her computer monitor. Those little windows
of time gave me the opportunity to talk and get my energizer bunny out of my system before I
got caught.
I also began to pour most of my energy into writing and drawing, basically anything I
could do with a pencil. I didnt think that I could draw that well but I wrote continuously about
anything that came to mind. It had come to a point where my book bag was filled with paper of
little poems or words that I learned from our vocabulary. One day, about halfway through the
school year, we were assigned to write a poem about something related to black history and
poverty. She informed us that it was for a class assignment and that our poem would be entered
into a statewide Langston Hughes contest. I really didnt care about the contest at all. I was just

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trying to do my work and stay out of trouble. I never had a problem with writing, but it was
never my favorite subject. I scribbled a few lines down on a sheet of paper to get the assignment
over with. Feeling just as dull as my teacher, I went up to her desk and handed the paper I ripped
out of my notebook. No. she said, without even looking at me. Go try it again. Oh how I
hated this class. So I went back to my desk, took another look at the assignment on the projector,
and made myself focus on my poem. I thought about something relating to me or events around
me that could help me with this dreadful assignment. After maybe twenty minutes, I had
unknowingly invented a masterpiece. I took my poem to the teacher, and she had actually read
my poem this time. She got so excited it frightened me and the entire class. We were looking at
her like she had just come out of the looney bin. This is wonderful, LaTia! She gave me a
high-five and praised me so much that I didnt know whether to be happy or a little worried. I
knew you could do it! she said, Youre definitely gonna win that contest. I just stood there a
few feet from her, stunned and a little afraid of what might happen next.
For the rest of the day, I was the happiest thing on Earth. I had finally done it. I finally
received some genuine praise from a teacher who seemingly despised me. Needless to say, I did
place in the contest. I had won third place in this statewide poetry contest.Wow I really outdid
myself. Everything seemed so surreal to me because I wasnt used to so much attention and
praise. I was in the newspaper, received financial compensation from my church, and a nice little
certificate from the contest judges. My mom even printed the poem out on fancy paper and
distributed it out to the family. This moment in my life, well my entire fourth grade year, had
really awoken something in me that I didnt know was there. I learned that I actually liked
writing. From then on I became a poet and I wrote all of the time. I loved writing and I

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appreciated that one moment in my life that had given my energizer bunny something to focus
my attention on. I had also learned to appreciate my teacher as well.