Thanks to Mr. Tyler Finch my junior year and senior year in high school was relieved of a lot of stress. Mr. Finch was first my physical science teacher back in my freshman year. I cold tell back then that he was going to be special because of how he carried himself. He talked about how his goals are to get married to his then fiancé and have children. He also wanted to coach football and track. He accomplished all of his dreams by the time I was a junior in high school. He convinced me to join the track team and promised me that if I joined he would coach me to be a better athlete and make me a state champion. Of course I did not believe him due to never running track before. He saw a potential in me that I did not see myself. he could tell I was great just by how I was in his class. He taught the hardest class that my school had to offer which was AP chemistry. I was a junior at the time so I was still in regular chemistry but he knew that I had the potential to take AP chemistry and be a track star. He was one of those teachers that cares more about their students than themselves and doesn’t believe knowledge is based off of tests, but rather from what they can do. That’s exactly how Mr. Finch graded us. He would have us tell him what we knew and if we didn’t know something he worked with us more on that one specific subject. Even in track he would pay such close attention to my long jumps and work around what I knew. He coached like a friend and always listened to what I had to say. Instead of pointing out my mistakes he would congratulate me on my achievements. And because he worked so well with me and so hard I helped him achieve his dream of coaching a first year long jump champion. I went into my junior year first year of track not knowing what the outcome would be because I had not done it yet. I walked out a state champion in four events and placed in my fifth event. I honestly couldn’t have done it without Mr. Finch. Then time came for my senior year and the pressure was on. Now I have to be better in track and take AP chemistry. Never had I had a teacher who understood the struggle of a difficult class before. He tutored me before school, after school, during lunch, and sometimes during practice. I worked hard in his class and he noticed it. Anyone who put in the effort in his class got recognized which did not happen very often with other teachers. So to repay him for being an amazing teacher my senior year I went to state in track and helped him to get more medals. I was proud of myself of course but amazingly no one was more proud than Mr. Finch. For two years he watched me better myself in track and school. Mr. Finch is truly an inspiration and has helped me to be a better student athlete. Thank you Mr. Finch.
