Encouragement

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Correcting (Misteaks) Mistakes
© 2008

by


Stephen A. Peterson


Even though the event was more than forty years ago, I still remember the day, as a high school senior at Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School, I received that English composition paper—an F. I was so ashamed and angry with myself that I wanted to hide. To make matters worse, I began to check the papers of my neighbors—B, C+, B+, B. My paper was so full of red marks that they appeared to outnumber my composition. When I looked at my paper a second time, there was a written note to see my teacher after class. From that moment until the end of class, I feared for my life. Although she moved right along to topics of writing improvement, sentence structure and the next assignment, I just knew she would shame me before my peers, tell my parents of my performance and end any hopes of me going on to college. I prayed for God to take me to heaven—and soon! Instead, there was the period ending bell meaning I would have to face, who many considered the hardest teacher in the entire school, Sister Rita Clare Broecker.

Within seconds, the classroom was emptied of students. Everyone except me. Sister, as she was called, must have noticed my discouragement and fears because she called me forward, asked for my paper then said, “It is not the mistakes you make that are most important, Mr. Peterson, but how much you learn from them, the decision or decisions you make to improve them and your willingness to work to improve them.” Then Sister offered me the opportunity to improve by giving me individual lessons each Tuesday and Thursday after school. She took my paper then said, “try again but this time write me a paper that deals with a topic of interest to you for tonight. I will expect you to turn it in in two days. May I expect you tomorrow after class, Mr. Peterson?

“Yes, Sister,” I said in a low tone of voice then left the classroom.

I did improve but not immediately. For the first month of individual lessons, Sister had to patiently teach me basic writing skills, parts of speech and re-writing as a necessary element to become a skilled writer.

For that first month, Sister Rita Clare would write, in red, on the top of my paper the words “IMPROVED” followed by a list of corrective points as well as references for me to follow up with. Before I completed my senior year, I had written a paper dealing with the Twelve Days of Christmas that was corrected exactly seventeen times. I was still required to write this same composition along with weekly writing, research and reading assignments as the other members of my class.

That experience of my teenage year is one that I have never forgotten and the teacher who was loving and patient enough to deal with my shortcomings. For I have and still make mistakes to this day. Some of them cause me to feel ashamed and angry with myself. And sometimes when I am overcomed with shame and guilt, I can hear God whisper in my ear the same words Sister Rita Clare boldly stated more than forty years ago. “It is not mistakes that are most important, but how much you grow and improve because of them, my child.”

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