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    Junior High! Probably the worst time in a young person’s life. A time when your body is changing in ways you never thought possible, and you spend most of your time trying to fit in a mold that your peers have formed for you. Gone are the days of Elmer’s glue, crayons, and the tiny scissors with the rounded edges. (Yes, they trust you with the sharp-edged scissors in Jr. High.) From here on out, you have your own locker, you carry your books to each class, and you start making your own decisions on which classes to take. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. They make you take showers in front of your peers! Without your clothes on!!! AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

    But, what I remember most about Jr. High was the incredible pain and heartache that students inflicted on one another with their words and actions. There were students who seemed to have it all together, and made those around them feel as if they didn’t measure up. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. Those who make a habit of ripping on others, have a terrible self-image. In fact, they are usually a totally different person from the one they present to the outside world. In order to make themselves feel better, they tear others down. You can bank on that. Those who are comfortable with themselves, have no need to rip on others. In fact, they will take time to build others up — a sure sign of a good self-image.

    I didn’t have the best self-image in Jr. High, and there were two things that I fell back on to be accepted during my Jr. High years: athletics and humor. I have always been a decent athlete, which brought a certain confidence and comfort level in my life. And I have always been able to make people laugh. But at times the laughter came at another’s expense, and most times I didn’t fully realize what I was doing to the self-images of those around me — especially to one young girl in particular.

    Her name was Tracy, and she had a crush on me. Instead of nicely letting her know that I wasn’t interested in her, I got caught up in trying to be funny. She was the brunt of my jokes. I am ashamed now to think of how I treated her in 7th grade. I went out of my way to make things miserable for her. I made up songs about her, and even wrote short stories in which I had to save the world from Tracy the evil villain.

    That all changed about half way through the year. Mr. Greer, my physical education teacher, came up to me one day. “Hey Mike, you got a second?”

    “Sure Mr. Greer!” I said. (Everybody loved Mr. Greer, and I looked up to him like a father.)

“...it couldn’t possibly be true.”

    “Mike, I heard a rumor that you were going around picking on Tracy?” He paused and looked me straight in the eye. It seemed like an eternity before he continued. “You know what I told the person I heard that from? I told them it couldn’t possibly be true. The Mike Powers I know would never treat another person like that. Especially a young lady.”

    I gulped, but said nothing.

    He gently put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I just thought you should know that.” Then he turned and walked away without a backward glance. Leaving me to my thoughts.

    From that day on I stopped picking on Tracy.

    I knew that the rumor was true, and that I had let my role model down by my actions. More importantly, it made me realize how badly I must have hurt this young lady and others for whom I had made life difficult.

    It was a couple of months later that I fully realized the incredible way in which Mr. Greer handled my problem. He not only made me realize the seriousness of my actions, but he did it in a way that helped me save some of my pride while I worked on restoring my dignity. My respect and love for him grew even stronger after that.

    I don’t think I ever apologized to Tracy for my hurtful words and actions. She moved away the next year and I never saw her again. While I was very immature as a seventh grader, I should have known better. In fact I did know better, but it took the wisdom of my favorite teacher to bring it out into the light.

    So Tracy, if you’re out there, I am truly sorry for the way that I treated you and I ask for your forgiveness. Something I should have done 18 years ago. And for Mr. Greer, I want to say “Thank you, you’re one of my heroes.”