Some teachers inspire us for the rest of our lives. Ruchi ma'am, my English teacher from Grade X, was one such teacher to me. She graduated from University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.

For her, there were no good or bad students, just achievers who had to overcome new challenges. Most of her lessons went beyond the textbooks, as she connected everything to our lives. At the end of the lecture, she always gave us the time and space to reflect our thoughts and opinions, as all of us engaged in long discussions. Furthermore, she never got angry with us, it was her silence that filled the air with disappointment and instantly made us regret our mistakes.

That year, we were assigned Helen Keller's autobiography, 'The Story of My Life', for class.  In the book, Keller beautifully describes the role of Anne Sullivan, her teacher, played in making her who she was. Just like Miss Sullivan was a beam of hope in Keller's otherwise dark life, Ruchi ma'am was the motivation that made me embrace new obstacles. Despite being a language teacher, she never restricted my words to remind me of rules or add changes. She appreciated work in the rawest of forms and made us fall in love with the simplicity of language. "You don't have to write a lot to express. You just need few right words to strike the right chord," she often emphasised. 

She perfectly understood the importance of extracurricular activities in the overall development of a student. While other teachers talked about exams most of the time, she asked us to participate in various events, not necessarily for winning, but just for our own enjoyment. We spent hours debating in the classroom and she never interrupted our discussions. Perhaps, this one of the reasons we could not finish up our syllabus on time but ended up with good scores.

She always wanted her students to look for new opportunities and discover new horizons. Being an international student, she left no stone unturned in inspiring me to apply to various universities. She patiently guided me through all the procedures. She might be disappointed that her favourite student is not pursuing English and is rather interested in STEM but nevertheless would be glad to know that I am still chasing my dreams, even beyond school. 

Grade X was a particularly tough year for me, and she always checked up on me whenever she could. Our chats helped me to overcome my anxieties to some extent, but I was still not sure about taking up bigger challenges. Her words of wisdom ignited my confidence.

Somewhere down the line, I shall always remain indebted for her pats on my shoulder, that have helped me grow. I'm thankful for all those instances, when she believed in me and inspired me to do things I would not have done otherwise. When our results were announced, she was one of the first persons to text and congratulate me. As she had expected, I got the highest marks in English. She was in Delhi and I was in Dhaka, but it took me back to those days in her classroom.