The Substitute

Successful people believe that allowing others to appraise your self-worth is a great weakness. Unfortunately, I was subjected to that weakness. It’s easy for someone to take your confidence and crumple it like a piece of paper, never completely returning to its original form. It started in Physics class one day. Physics was my favorite subject; I found it interesting and easy to understand. I always received accolades from my teacher for my good work. Everything seemed to be perfect until the day the substitute teacher walked in our class. He told us that he would be teaching us for the whole week because Mr. Yousef, our regular teacher, was feeling under the weather, I could already feel myself becoming sick. How would I adapt to this new teacher’s method of teaching? I brushed aside my worries and tried to pay attention, but I found that difficult to do. I was too busy worrying about how I would understand, rather than actually pay attention. Suddenly, my trail of thoughts was cut off by my classmates calling my name. I looked up to find the substitute waiting for me at the board with a question written down, patiently waiting to be solved. I walked up to the board and solved the question with such alacrity, that I can’t recall ever checking the question. I was going to walk back to my seat when I heard him say, “That’s incorrect”. I wasn’t the only one appalled by what he said. Snickers could be heard from the students and my abasement aggrandized with each laugh heard. I wanted to abscond and hide somewhere where no one could find me. The ones who weren’t laughing didn’t alleviate my humiliation either.

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He didn’t seem to notice what was going on. He passed out worksheets and asked that they be solved for the next day. After class, a group of girls came up to me. At first, I was expecting sympathy, but what I got was much worse. “The questions are so abstruse; you shouldn’t try solving them”, one of them said. They all acceded. I sighed and shoved the worksheet in my bag. It felt like a century had passed when the bell rang. I got home and decided not to solve the worksheet. If I couldn’t solve the question, I surely wouldn’t be able to solve the worksheet. I opened my bag and the worksheet slipped out. I was about to put it back when I realized it was from our old lesson. I solved it with such ease and made sure of my answers. The next day, everyone was shocked to find out I had done it. Not only had my self-esteem risen again, but I had appeased the substitute. That day, I listened to others’ comments about me. Now I keep my head held high no matter what others have to say. If I am sure that I am capable of doing something, no one can be an obstacle that hinders me from doing so.