One person who really stands out in my memory is my high school math teacher, Mr. Wang. He was patient and always wore simple shirts, but what made him special was his ability to connect with us. During my second year, I struggled a lot with math, especially in functions and solid geometry. My grades were stuck in the seventies, and I began to doubt if I had any talent for it at all.
One day, after I had bombed a monthly exam, I was sitting alone, feeling lost, when Mr. Wang came over. Instead of reprimanding me, he asked, "What do you think you don't understand?" That simple question changed everything for me. He offered to help during his lunch breaks, spending about twenty minutes each day to go through my mistakes. He even encouraged me to keep a "mistake notebook," where I had to write down each error, analyze why I got it wrong, and figure out the right approach.
Two months before the college entrance exam, I felt like giving up after a mock exam where my score dropped significantly. But Mr. Wang drew a zigzag line on a piece of paper, showing me that growth isn't always a straight line. He told me, "Don't deny months of effort because of one exam."
Thanks to his support, I managed to improve my math score by over twenty points during the actual exam and got into my ideal university. Even now, I think about his lessons when I face challenges at work. He taught me not just math, but a way to tackle problems step by step. It's a mindset that I carry with me, and I really respect him for that.