The essay below, published here in its original form, was written by Maria Ahlers, one of Lee’s math students from St. Francis High School in 2005.  Asked to write a character profile essay in one of her other classes, she immediately chose to write about Lee, a man she describes as a “True Inspiration.”

Lee has chosen to publish her essay here because it serves a guiding source of inspiration in his ongoing quest to motivate others.

 

Maria Ahlers

Drama

September 14, 2005

Character Analysis

A True Inspiration

What is a teacher?  Webster’s dictionary defines a teacher as, “One whose occupation is to teach.”  Mr. Erickson gives the word teacher a whole new meaning.  As my Geometry-9 and College Trigonometry teacher, I have witnessed many lifelong lessons and admirable characteristics.  Although he taught me math; more importantly, he taught me discipline.  The passion and enthusiasm he has for his job made learning interesting.  Through my classes with him I have been able to see how much he cares about his students and their success.  Besides being a smart man, he is also a very nice man.

When I first came into Mr. Erickson’s classroom as a freshman, I was appalled at the discipline that he required.  If you talked out of turn you had to write, “I will not talk when Mr. Erickson is talking” fifty times!  I soon began to appreciate how much it helped the structure of the classroom.  I learned well from the order that was maintained. His organization enabled his students to become more organized.

You can easily see enthusiasm in a person, especially in Mr. Erickson.  Math is not necessarily the most interesting subject to me, but the energy that Mr. Erickson teaches with makes it interesting.  He gets excited when you finally understood a concept.  You would think he had won a gold metal.  His love for his job is very evident and it makes math enjoyable.

Mr. Erickson cares about his students and their success as much as a mother cares for her child.  Every student’s grade is important to him and he takes upon himself to see that every pupil succeeds.  He bends over backwards to give anyone who wants help assistance.  For instance, College Trigonometry was very challenging course for me and some other students.  Mr. Erickson would come to school at 4:30 in the morning to be ready to help students at 5:00.  If that doesn’t show his extreme dedication for his students and their success, I don’t know what does.

Not only is Mr. Erickson a remarkable teacher, he is also an amazing person.  Every time you walk into his classroom you are sincerely greeted and you feel as though he would actually notice if you weren’t in class prior to taking attendance.  He always asks how each of his students is doing and he remembers what is going on in their lives.  He really goes above and beyond what is required for him to do his job, and I think that is a really remarkable and admirable quality.

If the definition of a teacher is one whose occupation is to teach, what do you call someone who goes above and beyond what is required for an occupation?  My answer is Mr. Erickson.  He is a man who has taught me math and discipline.  He has shown me how to care about people.  Every day he brightened my day with his enthusiasm and inspired me to always do my best.

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