10/24/2020
When I found out I had Mr. Tropper for English this year I got really excited. I didn’t have him freshman year but my friends who did say he was their favorite teacher ever. He made great jokes, chose fun books for the class to read, and would really listen to students. Most of all, they said, he tried to understand his students. Like, he would consider that a student was having a bad day or something. He never raised his voice; he’d talk to them after class and try to figure out what was going on. Like, this one kid’s mom got really sick. He didn’t really want to talk about it much, but he wasn’t doing his homework. Instead of chewing him out or giving him a bad grade Mr. Tropper talked to him and found out what was going on. Mr. Tropper said he understood what the student was going through more than he could ever know. He even gave him extensions on his assignments.
So, I was really surprised and disappointed that when I had Mr. Tropper he never made jokes and he lost his temper easily. The books he chose were really depressing and he refused to repeat himself when kids asked questions. Any late work was an automatic zero. He kept saying, “In the real world, if you don’t meet a deadline at your job, you get fired!” At the end of the day he always just left. He never made an effort to talk to students or learn about them or let them know anything about him. Everyone entered class anxious and left feeling drained, including Mr. Tropper. I had to wonder if this was the same Mr. Trooper that my friends had talked about.
One day I realized that I’d left my copy of The Fault in Our Stars on my desk. We had homework from the book that night so I went back to get it. Mr. Tropper was there, sitting at his desk. He didn’t see or hear me. He was just sitting there, with his face buried in his hands. I was about to say something. I just wanted to ask if he was okay, but I wasn't sure he would want me to or how he’d react if I did. I was worried that he’d lay into me. So I said nothing. I just quietly grabbed my book and moved back to the door. I don’t know why I looked back one more time, but when I did I noticed a tan line on his left ring finger.