The tardy bell rang as I took my seat in Mark Tuetings Advanced Placement United States History class. I pulled out my blue five star notebook ready to take notes like usual, expecting the usual lecture and Tueting’s crazy behavior.

We were about half way through our lecture on the civil war when a knock on door announced the entrance of one of Tueting’s alumni, Sandy Hernandez.  This unexpected visit managed to turn the topic of our class from slavery and the civil war to college. Sandy was telling Tueting about how she hated high school and they were the worst years of her life.

Let me tell you, after hearing that Sandy had less than a great time here at HHS Tueting was shocked. His jaw dropped after she proclaimed her hate for high school. He starting telling all the students that our high school years should be the best years of our lives and we should all be having fun. But when he asked the class how many people were having fun in high school, not many hands went up. A large amount of disappointment was visible in his eyes.

All this led to a lesson on finding our “wa”. The concept of “wa” is finding happiness, harmony, and peace. Balancing the bad and things you don’t enjoy doing in your life with things you enjoy doing according to Japanese Cultural Center.

We learned this lesson during a class period where Tueting stopped everything to tell us how much he did not like the fact that we were not enjoying ourselves.  So he called off the test, and gave us a new homework assignment. Our homework was to take an hour during the weekend and spend it doing something we love just to make our day more fun; to find our “wa”. This is quite possibly the best homework assignment I have ever received.

I found my “wa” through the lens of my camera. The one time I have control in my life. The only time I control what happens, how the photo comes out, how wide the aperture is, the framing, and composition. This is what I enjoy the most. I enjoy that I have total control over something and that I can create something the way I see it in my head and that makes me happy.

Being given this assignment meant that a teacher just acknowledging our heavy work load and sympathizing, he cared enough to do something. We do so much work for this class, it was like him saying to me, “I appreciate you guys and this is what I will do for you.”

Tueting has given me hope for my future teachers though. Anyone who thinks that high school is just four years of homework hell, just hang on. There are still great teachers who will do things for you as long as you work hard enough. Just remember that finding your “wa” might make every now and then high school a little more manageable.