The best teachers are the ones that not only enhance your understanding of the material and leave you enlightened, but change your life in innumerable ways as well. Mrs. Leimberg is such a teacher. When I entered AP Language and Composition last year, I had no idea the profound impact that she and her class would have on my future.

Until Mrs. Leimberg's class, I'd had no idea what I wanted to do in life, what path I wanted to take, or even what my academic interests were: I'd always been a good student, and thus all the advice I received was based on "oh, you're good at this subject, so do this as a career," and so my head was filled with conflicting advice about college majors constantly.

It was Mrs. Leimberg's emphasis on exposing her students to a variety of writing--from essays to speeches to plays--that helped me to decide that I want to pursue a career as an English professor. I look to her as a role model, both for her honest, outspoken nature and for her expertise in English. She is the kind of teacher that I hope to become--one who constantly pushes her students to be better because she knows they have it in them.

She has been a fountain of good advice for my writing career as well--I go to her about my poetry and short stories and for her suggestions that take my writing from good to great. And it's not only me that she does this for: the amount of times she's stayed after to advise students about college essays, short stories, or assignments is innumerable.

Mrs. Leimberg has really made my writing shine and given me direction in life, and she is one of the most supportive teachers I've ever had. She is a teacher who deeply cares for her students' academic well-being, both in high school and beyond.