People Describe The One Teacher They'll Never Forget

Another time, my gym teacher at my Japanese school intimidatingly asked 13-year-old me if I was a "homo." I guess my fierce warmup exercises to imaginary music raised a red flag, prompting her to make sure I "butch" up my perceivably flamboyant moves.

I remember being absolutely mortified at her audacity, and I may have clutched my invisible pearls in shock.

Looking back – boy, did she nail that assumption.

Curious to hear the experience of strangers online, Redditor xtra_why asked:

"What did that one teacher do to you that you'll never forget?"

Bless Mrs. Jones

"3rd grade-Mrs Jones. My dad had just deserted us and we were suddenly destitute. She bought my school pictures for us and paid my lunch bill all year. She never said a word about it. Only found out later. Bless her"

– Ljmeeds1

The Stupid Lesson

"I called somebody stupid once when they got a question wrong and the teacher instantly made me stand up and spell 'stupid' backwards. Got it wrong with the pressure and learnt a lesson that day."

– plathree

Remembered Six Years Later

"The professor I had for my calculus 100 class in university was awesome. He was a good teacher and funny and engaging. If it was a first year class with over 100 people in it. I was just a face in a big crowd. I was on campus after hours a couple years after I graduated (they run programs for kids in the evenings and was dropping off my oldest) and I saw him. He stopped, looked at me hard, and said '<first name> <last name>. Not a bad student. Not great. But definitely not bad.' And kept walking. This was a good 6 years after I graduated. Absolutely amazed he would have remembered me at all after teaching how many hundreds of students in between. That is just crazy."

– escher4096

Toys For Punishment

"I can't remember what I did but in first grade my teacher got mad at me and said 'you wanna act like a baby? Fine come over here.' She made me sit in a corner on the floor and gave me two little toys to play with."

– PinkSquidBear

That Thing You Do

"Had 10 minutes to spare before lunch bell and he told us all to 'go jerk off or whatever it is you do.' I don't know what he wanted to say and he apologized to us, but it was funny as hell."

– canadadhd

"Teacher Persona"

"Sometimes you forget to use your teacher persona. I once had a student tell me that she would be working on Christmas Day (at McDonald's). She was excited to get the holiday pay rate."

"I forgot myself for a second and told her, 'Make that money, girl. Don't let it make you.'"

"In case you're wondering, that's essentially the tag for the movie 'The Player's Club,' a rated R film from the 90s that every Black child (including myself) has seen, but had no business watching."

– theoreticaldickjokes

The Extra Mile

"She took every phone call no matter the time of night while I was in rehab. If it wasn't for her being there in my lowest time, I probably would not be here today."

– poppa_smurf_killa

Intuitive Teacher

"in my senior year, my english teacher asked me if i was manic depressive after turning in a personal essay, only for me to get diagnosed with bipolar disorder a week later."

– laurynscrawford

Lingering Words

"Told me I was smart and could succeed. I had spent the past couple years at a private school, trying so hard to prove myself. Despite doing well academically, I didn't fit their cookie cutter mold, so I was looked down on by other students and administration. When I told the guidance counselor that I wanted to be premed and go to medical school after college, she pretty much told to lower my expectations because I wouldn't succeed. At the end of my college math class my senior year of high school, I ended up in my professors office to look at what I had missed on my final. He told me that I had done well, and that I could my PhD in math if I wanted. That was not what I wanted to do, but when I told him I wanted to be premed, he looked at me and said you're going to well in that. I know you will succeed. 6 years later and I'm halfway through my second year of medical school, and his words still ring in my mind."

– emmaline_grace97

Cool Art Teacher

"Had a highschool art teacher who would let me stay in his classroom during lunches. Always gave me half his sandwich and other extra food because he knew I didn't eat much otherwise."

– pseudonymous_lemon

The Harsh Truth

"I was anorexic when I was in school. She took me aside after class and told me that if I didn't stop doing what I was doing to myself I was going to die. That my body was going to start shutting down, my organs would fail, that it would not be beautiful and I was going to die an awful and painful death."

– Gar_Eval