Most late starts of second semester senior year were no late starts for the kiss up student I was. Instead of getting the luxury of sleeping in every other Wednesday morning like my peers, I trekked to the grocery store in order to pick up a dozen plain cake donuts from the bakery. All that lost sleep and effort to win over a teacher.
Mr. Leal was a man of many talents, the most impressive included making AP English Literature very interesting which all high school students know is a difficult feat. Though his other talents include eating the most food you can imagine while in class, eating a dozen donuts within a two day period, singing and playing deafening Orchestra or Rock music in class, perfectly matching his printed tie to his creaseless button up shirt, convincing his students every day to walk to the shopping center to pick up his lunch, and having a fanpage instagram account.
To say the least, he was not a fit man by any means, in fact he wore ties solely to distract from his bulging potbelly. Mr. Leal told his students this through his self deprecating humor, which made him incredibly eccentric. His laziness contributed to his rotundness, never moving from the comfort of his desk chair. He even carried around a solar powered fan in attempt to dry the sweat caused by his own excessive body heat. My favorite memories of Mr. Leal include watching him drink straight from the milk jug he kept in his mini fridge, the stench of the snacks he noisely consumed as we took reading comprehension quizzes, the vast amount of mayoneise he deliberately applied to his sandwiches, and hearing his daily “Don’t be a noob” to the student in class who had asked a dumb question. His sarcasm took getting used to as he would make fun of the students he actually liked to show he cared about them, tell them they lacked strong work ethic to foster improvement, laugh at their ideas to exhibit his intelligence, and insult their grades if they didn’t receive an A in the class. He was also a dreamcrusher in many ways, always telling my classmates they would never be admitted to top universities or earn qualified degrees.
“Atiana never pursue a dumb college major, like dance or underwater basket weaving” he once told me while I was telling my friends about my upcoming college dance auditions.
“I am actually going to double major in business and dance, so I can do both when I’m older. But don’t worry I definitely will not be pursuing any type of basket weaving.” I sheepishly laughed, knowing it was a bluff as soon as I said it. He crushed my spirit then just as much as he did when he admitted he knew the donuts were sheerly an act to win him over.
“I only eat plain cake!” he shouted the first time I brought him an assorted mix of glazed, chocolate sprinkle, and maple bar donuts. He trotted to my desk, smearing donut glaze all over a carefully crafted analysis essay. In that moment I was truly at a loss for words as my jaw dropped in sheer horror. Fellow classmates giggled with utter amusement at the sight of my stained essay papers. From that day on, I knew to only buy plain cake donuts.
Leal’s AP Literature class was a battlefield which left every student constantly on their toes, never knowing when there might be a quiz on the previous night’s reading or what essay prompt would be assigned. I had always enjoyed writing from an early age, English was my strong suit in the world of academia, though none of my knowledge had prepared me for his class. I realized this on day one when we were given a diagnostic essay, which I failed. Unfortunately, it never got better after that due to the first assignment consisting of memorizing 27 poems and construing a theme for each. Throughout the semester, learning to interpret the language of Shakespeare’s work like King Lear and Macbeth into insightful discussions and essays became second nature. It almost became enjoyable, I never thought I would admit that. In class essays were undoubtedly timed and never tranquil as Mr. Leal would do everything in his power to distract us students through music, singing, shouting, or eating.
Though, that was unfortunately not the most aggravating part of Leal’s essays, but instead was the grade I received on each one, the unchanging 86. This, I believed, was purposeful in order to put my grade extremely close to the A he knew I was striving for. At one time I thought it would be crazy for a teacher to never read past the introductory paragraph of a student’s essay, now it no longer phased me. In turn, it meant writing nonsense after the first page of an essay became an art my class and I had perfected by the end of the year.
It was the second to last day of AP Literature, the day of the infamous final essay, in which the epiphany occurred to me. Looking down at the prompt and reading, “Please write a well crafted essay describing what you have learned in AP Literature this year”, my classmate’s and I’s dumbfounded faces were in disbelief.
It became apparent, despite his caveman like habits and unorthodox teaching, Mr. Leal was one of the most insightful and intelligent people I knew. His lectures engage everyone, as every point he made seems to hold a new revelation. One in specific stood out to me, in which he dismantled postmodernism and disclosed that an individual is defined by their relationship with the world. The struggles of his class were not for the faint hearted. His tactics taught students to write about anything, wherever and whenever as they were forced to look deeper into texts and understand them at a greater level. Mr. Leal provided incredible knowledge not only concerning literature, but as well as life lessons and day to day truths. He educated about the real world through his wisdom, guidance, and the essence of curiosity and desire to understand. He provoked each students’ individual discovery of values and virtue. He applied his expertise to his lessons and taught because of his love for what he did. Something I will never forget, the point Mr. Leal always stressed, “Don’t place yourselves within the ranks of those mediocre masses too open-minded to stand for very much at all.”
I received my final essay grade, a 90, which had proven my efforts and persistence, or possibly that the donut strategy had worked after all. In eventually winning over Mr. Leal, I gained more than a good grade; Mr. Leal helped shaped the way in which I saw the world. As his quote goes, I learned to never settle for mediocrity in writing nor in my academic endeavors. Most importantly my peers and I learned to never be the mediocre in the world, as exerting one’s full potential in all walks of life would lead to personal prosperity.
Every student needs their own Mr. Leal, a teacher who encourages and instills their passion within their students through challenging them to recognize different perspectives and strive beyond their personal bests and for that I will always be grateful to Mr. Leal.
English 206 Blog 