When I think of Disney or ASB my mind only goes to one teacher, Mrs. Rodriguez. A small lady with a lot of personality and determination to make it a great year. Towards the end of 7th grade, my friends and I decided to try and join ASB for the upcoming school year. A week later we received the news from her that we entered. The way that she presented herself that day displayed that she was excited to see what we could all do and how much much we could all achieve. Seeing how excited she was for this made me excited for the upcoming year!

   Although I was not in a cabinet position, I understood that everyone played a huge role in every school activity that we planned. With the help of Mrs. Rodriguez, we managed to bring a lot of successful events to our school. However, I will not say that putting these events into effect was easy. There were many times when we thought we would not be able to put out our event to our school, but Mrs. Rodriguez would always be there for all of us and encouraging us. There would be times where we would all be on the edge of tears because of how stressed we were but she would be there encouraging us. After seeing our event go through or finishing decorating a school dance, we would all be very happy with what we achieved and for not giving up, and it would all be thanks to Mrs. Rodriguez. Not only was her encouraging very helpful for us, but seeing how hard she worked for us as well allowed us to gain more determination to continue.

   During my time in ASB, I had gotten into an argument with my close friends who had joined with me. During this time it had felt like I really had no one to rely on and had no idea how to fix my friendship with my friends. Mrs. Rodriguez had realized that something had happened between us and decided to talk to me about it. Thanks to the phenomenal advice that she gave me, I was able to regain my friends and after 3 years I still talk to them. During our time in ASB, she encouraged us to get to know each other. There is a specific presentation that I specifically remember. We were told to choose a song and use its lyrics to connect it with our past, present or future. This presentation was something very hard for me to do because I decided to talk about something that was very hard for me to talk about to others. Although I did cry while presenting this, it allowed me to realize how much our ASB class had become really close and that I was supported by everyone because of this presentation the bond that we had with each other grew thanks to all the activities we were told to do by Mrs. Rodriguez.

    However, this was not the only time she had helped me out. After being promoted from my middle school, during my freshman year I would come by and help her out and exchange I would receive community service hours. However, one day I came in and decided to tell her everything I was going through at the time. While telling her all this I started crying uncontrollably and she was there to support me.  I don’t think I’ve ever made such a close bond with someone, specifically a teacher, and be able to tell them what I was going through. During this time I did not know who tell so, her being there for me helped me gain relief.

   Mrs. Rodriguez will always be a role model to me who I aspire to be like. I want to be as hardworking as she is with ASB and her AVID classes. I will forever be very thankful for her supporting me throughout these past 4 years. To Mrs. Rodriguez thank you for allowing me to be part of ASB even though I did not know anything about it. Thank you for guiding me throughout these past 4 years. I apologize for not going to visit you before I left, but do not worry I will go visit you very soon and update you on my life. Overall, thank you for everything.