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I grew up and started my school career in Haiti. There was no 1）school board， and 2）principals only appeared 3）once in a blue moon. Because they weren’t worried about anyone else’s 4）judgment， the teachers in my public school were well known for certain skills： some for their ability to scare you with just a look， and others for their 5）consistency in 6）whipping kids.
Our fear pushed us to learn whatever we were 7）assigned， so in a way， the teachers were 8）effective. We did what we had to do， whether it was 9）memorizing a passage， solving a math problem or learning vocabulary words. I was able to remember a lot， and as a kid I never sat back and wondered if the education I was getting was good enough.
But looking back， I see that I never grew 10）mentally in that school. They didn’t teach us to think broadly or be creative. Instead， I was always either doing what I was 11）directed to do， or sitting back waiting for more directions. My classmates and I were taught what we needed to know to survive inside a classroom—things like dates and events in history—but not a lot that would help me survive in the real world.
When I came to the United States， I didn’t know what to expect. On my first day of school in New York I met my new teacher， Mr. Jean Pierre， who was Haitian. He greeted me with “Sa kap fèt la， Boss？”which means， “How you doing， Boss？” in Creole注.
That short sentence alone told me a lot. It meant that we were equals. Normally in Haiti， teachers only speak French to students， because those who speak French are looked upon as 12）superior. But Mr. Jean Pierre spoke pure Creole with me， and that made me feel that the person I was going to spend my days with at this new school would be able to understand me.
I had Mr. Jean Pierre for every subject. On my first day in his class—which was full of other Haitian students also learning English—I couldn’t even read the English title of the textbook he handed me. But I learned so quickly that by my third week， I understood most questions and was even raising my hand.
Mr. Jean Pierre brought in a couple of picture books， and he would have the two of us who were newest to English read out loud. He told us to sound out the words， and our first go was usually pretty good. That made me feel more confident. When we didn’t get the word right， Mr. Jean Pierre would say it to us and have us repeat it back to him over and over again until we remembered it. He also had us learn 10 to 20 vocabulary words each day. For each word we had to memorize how to spell it and pronounce it， and create a sentence with it. At first I hated this method because I wasn’t used to having to be creative in any way. But 13）gradually， Mr. Jean Pierre helped me fall in love with creative writing. Every morning， we’d have 30 minutes to write about anything that came to mind. I discovered that I was good at this， and Mr. Jean Pierre was the first teacher ever to put in time aside from his regular 14）schedule for me， staying during lunch or after school to help me and another student who loved writing.
Through actions like this （he even helped us on weekends before big exams）， Mr. Jean Pierre showed me that he truly cared about me as a person and wasn’t just interested in doing his job and getting paid. Mr. Jean Pierre’s methods were just as effective as the ones my scary teachers in Haiti used： In 7th grade， the top ten students in the school were all from our class， all Mr. Jean Pierre’s students.
But he was also the kind of teacher who taught us how to survive in life. He took the time to tell us how to 15）conduct ourselves in an office environment， how to shake someone’s hand at a job interview， and how to stay focused even when everything might seem to be against us. The thing that he told us that stood out the most for me was this： “I see a lot of youngsters spending hundreds of dollars buying 16）sneakers. I would never do such a thing. I would rather buy Timberlands that cost me about $50 and spend $200 on books instead.” He made me realize that you can impress someone for a little while by dressing 17）fancy， but a smart， educated mind can make a much longer-lasting impression.
I know he made a big impression on me. Since studying with Mr. Jean Pierre， I always try to connect with my teachers， and I’m always looking for lessons I can take beyond the classroom.
我在海地成长并在那里开始我的学习生涯。学校没有教育董事会，校长则是难得露一次面。由于不必担心别人的评判，我公立学校的老师都有一些大家熟知的“技能”：有些老师只用一个眼神就能唬住你，有些则老是鞭打孩子。
恐惧迫使我们学习分派下来的每一份课业，所以，从某种意义上说，老师的效率很高。我们做不得不做的事，不管是背诵课文、解数学题还是学习词汇。我能记很多东西。作为一个孩子，我从来不会停下来想想——我所受的教育够好吗？
但是回过头来看，我在那所学校从未有过心智上的成长。他们没有教我们放胆设想、发挥创造力，相反，我总是在做别人指示我做的事，要不然就是在等别人给我更多的指示。他们教给我和我的同学们的是在课堂上生存所需要知道的东西，比如历史日期和事件等等，而有助于我们在现实世界中求生的东西却寥寥无几。
来到美国的时候，我不知道会遇到什么。在纽约上学的第一天，我遇到了我的新老师，海地人让·皮埃尔先生。他用克里奥尔语和我打招呼，说：“老大，Sa kap fèt la？”意思是：“老大，你好吗？” 这短短的一句话向我透露了很多东西。它意味着我们是平等的。在海地，老师对学生通常只说法语，因为在人们眼中，讲法语的人地位较高。而让·皮埃尔先生用纯粹的克里奥尔语和我说话，这让我觉得，这个将与我在这个新学校里度过求学时光的人也许能够理解我。
我的每门课都有让·皮埃尔先生。还有很多其他海地学生也在他的课上学习英语。第一天上他的课时，我甚至看不懂他递给我的教科书上的英文标题。但是我学得很快，到了第三周，我已经能明白大多数问题，甚至还能举手发言。
让·皮埃尔先生带来了一些图画书，并让我们两个最不熟悉英语的学生大声朗读。他要我们大声读出词语，而我们的第一次尝试通常也读得很不错。这让我更加自信。我们读不对时，让·皮埃尔先生会为我们示范，然后让我们对他一遍遍地重复，直到我们记住为止。
他还让我们每天学习10到20个词汇。我们必须记住每一个单词的拼写和发音，然后用它造一个句子。起初我很讨厌这种方法，因为我不习惯任何方式的创造。但是，让·皮埃尔先生让我渐渐爱上了创意写作。每天早上，我们会用30分钟的时间把浮现在脑海的任何想法写下来。我发现我还挺擅长这个的。让·皮埃尔先生是第一个在正常课时以外为我另花时间的老师，他会在午饭时间或者放学后留下来，辅导我和另一个同样喜欢写作的学生。
通过这些举措（他甚至会在大考前的周末辅导我们），让·皮埃尔先生让我看到他真的关心我这个人，而不仅仅只是对完成工作、领薪水感兴趣。让·皮埃尔先生的方法和我在海地那些吓人的老师所使用的方法同样有效：七年级时，学校前十名的学生全都来自我们班，都是让·皮埃尔先生的学生。
他也是会教我们如何在生活中生存的老师。他花时间告诉我们在办公室环境中如何为人处事，在工作面试时如何与人握手，以及在一切看似不利的情况下如何保持专注。在他告诉我们的话里，令我印象最深刻的是这一句：“我看到很多年轻人花几百美元去买运动鞋。我永远不会做这样的事。我宁愿花50美元左右去买双天木兰，再用200美元去买书。”他让我认识到，你可以通过花哨的装扮打动别人一小会儿，但是，受过教育的聪明头脑给人留下的印象才更加持久。
我知道他给我留下了极深的印象。自从跟随让·皮埃尔先生学习以后，我总是希望与我的老师们保持良好的沟通，并且一直在寻找课堂以外可以学习的经验。
Our fear pushed us to learn whatever we were 7）assigned， so in a way， the teachers were 8）effective. We did what we had to do， whether it was 9）memorizing a passage， solving a math problem or learning vocabulary words. I was able to remember a lot， and as a kid I never sat back and wondered if the education I was getting was good enough.
But looking back， I see that I never grew 10）mentally in that school. They didn’t teach us to think broadly or be creative. Instead， I was always either doing what I was 11）directed to do， or sitting back waiting for more directions. My classmates and I were taught what we needed to know to survive inside a classroom—things like dates and events in history—but not a lot that would help me survive in the real world.
When I came to the United States， I didn’t know what to expect. On my first day of school in New York I met my new teacher， Mr. Jean Pierre， who was Haitian. He greeted me with “Sa kap fèt la， Boss？”which means， “How you doing， Boss？” in Creole注.
That short sentence alone told me a lot. It meant that we were equals. Normally in Haiti， teachers only speak French to students， because those who speak French are looked upon as 12）superior. But Mr. Jean Pierre spoke pure Creole with me， and that made me feel that the person I was going to spend my days with at this new school would be able to understand me.
I had Mr. Jean Pierre for every subject. On my first day in his class—which was full of other Haitian students also learning English—I couldn’t even read the English title of the textbook he handed me. But I learned so quickly that by my third week， I understood most questions and was even raising my hand.
Mr. Jean Pierre brought in a couple of picture books， and he would have the two of us who were newest to English read out loud. He told us to sound out the words， and our first go was usually pretty good. That made me feel more confident. When we didn’t get the word right， Mr. Jean Pierre would say it to us and have us repeat it back to him over and over again until we remembered it. He also had us learn 10 to 20 vocabulary words each day. For each word we had to memorize how to spell it and pronounce it， and create a sentence with it. At first I hated this method because I wasn’t used to having to be creative in any way. But 13）gradually， Mr. Jean Pierre helped me fall in love with creative writing. Every morning， we’d have 30 minutes to write about anything that came to mind. I discovered that I was good at this， and Mr. Jean Pierre was the first teacher ever to put in time aside from his regular 14）schedule for me， staying during lunch or after school to help me and another student who loved writing.
Through actions like this （he even helped us on weekends before big exams）， Mr. Jean Pierre showed me that he truly cared about me as a person and wasn’t just interested in doing his job and getting paid. Mr. Jean Pierre’s methods were just as effective as the ones my scary teachers in Haiti used： In 7th grade， the top ten students in the school were all from our class， all Mr. Jean Pierre’s students.
But he was also the kind of teacher who taught us how to survive in life. He took the time to tell us how to 15）conduct ourselves in an office environment， how to shake someone’s hand at a job interview， and how to stay focused even when everything might seem to be against us. The thing that he told us that stood out the most for me was this： “I see a lot of youngsters spending hundreds of dollars buying 16）sneakers. I would never do such a thing. I would rather buy Timberlands that cost me about $50 and spend $200 on books instead.” He made me realize that you can impress someone for a little while by dressing 17）fancy， but a smart， educated mind can make a much longer-lasting impression.
I know he made a big impression on me. Since studying with Mr. Jean Pierre， I always try to connect with my teachers， and I’m always looking for lessons I can take beyond the classroom.
我在海地成长并在那里开始我的学习生涯。学校没有教育董事会，校长则是难得露一次面。由于不必担心别人的评判，我公立学校的老师都有一些大家熟知的“技能”：有些老师只用一个眼神就能唬住你，有些则老是鞭打孩子。
恐惧迫使我们学习分派下来的每一份课业，所以，从某种意义上说，老师的效率很高。我们做不得不做的事，不管是背诵课文、解数学题还是学习词汇。我能记很多东西。作为一个孩子，我从来不会停下来想想——我所受的教育够好吗？
但是回过头来看，我在那所学校从未有过心智上的成长。他们没有教我们放胆设想、发挥创造力，相反，我总是在做别人指示我做的事，要不然就是在等别人给我更多的指示。他们教给我和我的同学们的是在课堂上生存所需要知道的东西，比如历史日期和事件等等，而有助于我们在现实世界中求生的东西却寥寥无几。
来到美国的时候，我不知道会遇到什么。在纽约上学的第一天，我遇到了我的新老师，海地人让·皮埃尔先生。他用克里奥尔语和我打招呼，说：“老大，Sa kap fèt la？”意思是：“老大，你好吗？” 这短短的一句话向我透露了很多东西。它意味着我们是平等的。在海地，老师对学生通常只说法语，因为在人们眼中，讲法语的人地位较高。而让·皮埃尔先生用纯粹的克里奥尔语和我说话，这让我觉得，这个将与我在这个新学校里度过求学时光的人也许能够理解我。
我的每门课都有让·皮埃尔先生。还有很多其他海地学生也在他的课上学习英语。第一天上他的课时，我甚至看不懂他递给我的教科书上的英文标题。但是我学得很快，到了第三周，我已经能明白大多数问题，甚至还能举手发言。
让·皮埃尔先生带来了一些图画书，并让我们两个最不熟悉英语的学生大声朗读。他要我们大声读出词语，而我们的第一次尝试通常也读得很不错。这让我更加自信。我们读不对时，让·皮埃尔先生会为我们示范，然后让我们对他一遍遍地重复，直到我们记住为止。
他还让我们每天学习10到20个词汇。我们必须记住每一个单词的拼写和发音，然后用它造一个句子。起初我很讨厌这种方法，因为我不习惯任何方式的创造。但是，让·皮埃尔先生让我渐渐爱上了创意写作。每天早上，我们会用30分钟的时间把浮现在脑海的任何想法写下来。我发现我还挺擅长这个的。让·皮埃尔先生是第一个在正常课时以外为我另花时间的老师，他会在午饭时间或者放学后留下来，辅导我和另一个同样喜欢写作的学生。
通过这些举措（他甚至会在大考前的周末辅导我们），让·皮埃尔先生让我看到他真的关心我这个人，而不仅仅只是对完成工作、领薪水感兴趣。让·皮埃尔先生的方法和我在海地那些吓人的老师所使用的方法同样有效：七年级时，学校前十名的学生全都来自我们班，都是让·皮埃尔先生的学生。
他也是会教我们如何在生活中生存的老师。他花时间告诉我们在办公室环境中如何为人处事，在工作面试时如何与人握手，以及在一切看似不利的情况下如何保持专注。在他告诉我们的话里，令我印象最深刻的是这一句：“我看到很多年轻人花几百美元去买运动鞋。我永远不会做这样的事。我宁愿花50美元左右去买双天木兰，再用200美元去买书。”他让我认识到，你可以通过花哨的装扮打动别人一小会儿，但是，受过教育的聪明头脑给人留下的印象才更加持久。
我知道他给我留下了极深的印象。自从跟随让·皮埃尔先生学习以后，我总是希望与我的老师们保持良好的沟通，并且一直在寻找课堂以外可以学习的经验。