Unforgettable Miss Bessie, By Carl T. Rowan

Ruth Garcia
Essay #2
English A-X J. Simon
A Motivating Influence Life is a cycle of learning in which we learn every day by experiences, anecdotes or by someone else. Now, it is hard to find a person who really cares about us or at least someone who wants to help us to succeed in the future. However, we found that there are some special teachers that are a great example of learning how to succeed in life. In the two stories of “my favorite teacher” by Thomas L. Friedman, and “Unforgettable Miss Bessie” by Carl T. Rowan, we find two incomparable persons who made a change in their students’ life. They both were a motivating influence for their students. Carl Rowan’s teacher Miss Bessie and Thomas Friedman’s teacher Hattie Steinberg
They both introduced their students to knowledge that they otherwise might not been exposed to. In Thomas Friedman’s teacher, Hattie taught Friedman a lesson that lasted throughout his life. Hattie was a journalism teacher who tries to teach her students about the ethical rules for being a journalist. She had high standards of teaching, and it leads a mark in her students. Friedman’s writes: “Hattie was a woman who believed that the secret of success in life was getting the fundamentals right” (403). This basic lesson about excellence in journalism was important to Friedman’s career, because he becomes a journalist, and he remembered decades after his High School days with Hattie. This shows that Hattie was a wise teacher because it influences Friedman’s life forever. On the other hand, Miss Bessie’s wisdom was impacting for Rowan. She was a writing teacher who loves to read and write. However, even when in those days the racism took place in the country between white and black people, and she was a black teacher, she had the pasion to impact her students’ life. Rowan writes one of Miss Bessie’s lessons: “If you do not read you cannot write, and if you cannot write, you might as well stop dreaming” (166). This showed Rowan how important her students’ future was for Miss Bessie. She tried to make the reading and writing a commandment for her students. Her wisdom and influence left a mark in her
Rowan describes Miss Bessie as tough, no-nonsense woman who could convince her students to do anything. In one occasion Rowan and Miss Bessie were talking about Rowan’s interest on sports and how hard it was for him to read a book. But he wanted to be with his friends and continue to be respect by them. So he writes: “Boy, she responded, you will play football because you have guts” (164). This impacted Rowan’s life forever. He learned to have the courage to fight for what he wanted in his life, and never give up, even when it seems difficult to reach. Similarly, Friedman’s teacher, Hattie Steinberg pushed her students to achieve high standards and to be responsible in their work, and to be well educated. Friedman writes: “and, boy, she pounded the fundamentals of journalism into her students –not simply how to write a lead or accurately transcribe a quote, but more important, how to comport yourself in a professional way and to always do quality work” (403). The purpose of Steinberg was to make her students work as if they were already working in a journalism company. She wanted her students to be ethical and professional in whatever they do. She knew it was going to be a great lecture for them. It would make them successful persons in their work and their