Room 336 

I could feel the same heartbeat that I had when I was in a volleyball game against the biggest rival, Boston Latin School. But this time, the speedy heartbeat did not come from the highly intense volleyball game, instead, I had a confession to make. 

After a week of mental struggle, I decided to tell the truth. It was during second lunch when I dragged my timid body to Room 336. Mr. Huie was there as usual, luckily, he also had second lunch. I went into the room and about to tell him the speech that I rehearsed more than twenty times, however, I found myself remain in silence. There was an invisible tape of guilt sealed on my lips. After few seconds passed, I figured that I must say something or else I will regret it for life. Willing to take on all kinds of consequences, I forced myself to use the last bit of courage to help me with the confession. 

"Mr. Huie", in a nervous voice, I began to mumble, "I have something I wanted to tell you... I could feel my Chinese accent became more obvious than ever. It was ugly, in a sense that my voice fused with shame. Neverthless, I was careless. I continued, "I did not do a sciene project. I was too busy with other school works and after school activities. So I used online project to help me with the report that I turned in. I do not think it is right to lie to my teacher and receive a grade that I did not deserved. I went home and prayed about it. God wants me to be honest, I am sorry." Mr. Huie looked straight into my watery eyes as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. The he looked beyond my eyes. Instead of penalizing me in an angry voice, Mr. Huie kindly asked me how I was feeling... He offered me the comfort that I did not get from my mother nor friends. Mr. Huie cares about me personally.

It was at that moment I realized grade is not everything, good character is. I finally understand why Mr. Huie often emphasizes this truth. Mr. Huie is more than just a Chemistry teacher. He is my life long counselor, role model, and volleyball coach. Room 336 has since then became my home in school where I rejuvenate myself to face all kinds of challenges in high school. 

As one of the most competitive high schools, Boston Latin Academy has many motivated students that compete constantly against each other for higher GPA. Many of those are willing to sacrifice their character to get good letter grades. I refuse to be one of them. I am not proud of my wrongdoings, but it became my motivations to keep the right attitude for real learning. This experience not only helped me build good character of honesty,but it also opened my eyes to witness the importance of teacher's support. If I become an educator one day, I would not be surprised.