Of the many wonderful teachers I’ve had, Mr. Rocklin, my junior-year Humanities teacher, was particularly influential.
How would I describe Mr. Rocklin? Thick round glasses with thick lens, liable to amplify the size of his eyes. Cow-licked tuft of hair. Nasally voice, pitch undulating in proportion to the level of passion (always astronomically high) for that which he was teaching. Bookish attire, say khakis, button-down shirt and a tweed jacket or, if feeling peculiarly casual, a Hawaiian shirt. His doppelganger, as his Facebook profile readily confirms, is The Office’s Dwight Schrute. He is the uber-nerd.
Mr. Rocklin’s influence has been subtle but pervasive, creeping slowly into, and becoming a part of, my own teacher identity, shaping who I am and how I see the world.
