The first day of school is already nerve-wracking enough, but adding a teacher you’ve never met before on top of that makes it even worse.

You never know what they expect or what they do that is different from the previous teacher.

If I’ve learned one thing in high school, it’s that in a classroom of 20+ people, teachers get a vague assumption about you, not because they don’t want to know who you truly are; instead it’s because they have a subject to teach in a set amount of time so spare time to get to know their students doesn’t come often, if at all.

Let’s be honest, those what-feels-like hundreds, “Tell me about you” surveys we are required to fill out on day one don’t come anywhere in comparison to who we truly are.

Sometimes I wish teachers knew the real me. It would make high school a whole lot easier.

I wish they knew how much I try even when I don’t understand.

I wish they understood that stress consumes me, but I won’t give up.

I wish they would dig deeper into understanding that I am willing to do whatever it takes to succeed if they are willing to help me.

I put in effort no matter how hard the lesson is, even if it means doing hours of work at home to understand.

I’m not okay with failure, and I don’t accept anything less than the best for myself.

I’m willing to help others understand even if it means that I have to do my work outside of class and help them at that moment. I know what it takes for myself to be successful and I will do exactly that, while I balance helping others because that’s just who I am.

I embrace myself and who I am: I am a senior in high school who stresses, gets overwhelmed, isn’t perfect, makes mistakes, does my best and balances life with school in a way that suits me. I’ve taught myself everything I know about balancing a hard course load and life but that doesn’t mean that I always get it right.

My way of coping with stress means a lot of late nights and early mornings. It means drinking lots of water — because I’m not a coffee person –to keep myself awake.

Now, doing this isn’t the best way to deal with stress by any means, but it’s what works for me.

I wish teachers knew that I take other hard classes too, so I’m not always going to understand everything the first time or be completely focused on their class. For me, that’s pretty much impossible, especially if another class is weighing me down.

I think the main thing I wish teachers knew about me though, is that I aspire to one day be in their shoes. In a little over four years, I want to wake up, put on a dress, come into the school and teach students what they deserve and need to know. I am so passionate about learning and education in general, and that’s why I take it so seriously.

I look up to my teachers and try to place myself in their situations because it could be something I one day face. I constantly look around and say, “If I were a teacher, I would do this…” and compare it to how teachers I have do certain things.

I watch, I listen and I learn.

As I grow as a student and one day become a teacher, I think that one of my main goals will be to try to understand my students because if my teachers knew more about me as a person, rather than a student, learning would be a lot easier for not only me, but the teacher as well.

A lot of times, when you dig deeper into understanding who someone truly is, you’ll find someone you never expected, and it’ll make it all worth it.