My very first semester of college; How unnerving yet exhilarating. I felt I was ready even though I was afraid that my professors wouldn't like me. One of my roommates and close friends from high school, Sarah, referred me to my World Civilizations class. He assured me that I would enjoy the class but that I would also learn a lot from the professor, Dr. Joseph Laythe. Not only did he do a great job of teaching History, but he made me focus on becoming a better reader and writer. Upon entering the lecture hall on the first day of class, I took a seat in the middle row. As more and more people continued to fill the room, I began to feel more anxious. I knew we would look at the schedule so it would be a breeze, but I had no idea how much work time was included. Before he even distributed the program, he had everyone write their name and an interesting fact about themselves on an index. Each of us had to hand him the card personally. This was his way of finding out who you were. After everyone was seated, he handed out the program and we started going through it. I noticed that I needed to buy three books to read for class and that we would have six assignments total to write. At this point I was starting to worry, but Dr. Laythe inspired me with his next announcement. He had been diagnosed with cancer and the situation was getting worse. I was shocked by his statement and felt a numbness take over my body. He reassured us of his optimistic outlook on life and told us that this life is what we make of it. I knew that instead of worrying about all the work I would have to do, I would have to take it day by day and do my best. About two weeks into his classes, I thought I was going to get carpal tunnel from how many no...... middle of paper ...... I came back with a bad grade. To my surprise I got a very high B. Dr. Laythe's comments were brief but they were just enough to help me improve my writing and start getting A's. Eventually, the girl I sat next to in class started asking me for help improving her writing skills, which made me it made me feel accomplished. Being a freshman, I couldn't really choose which classes to take nor did I know how to move my classes. around, but I'm grateful for that. His course taught me more about reading and writing than any other English course I've ever taken. He guided us only as much as he had to, then let us figure it out on our own, which made me a better student. Dr. Laythe went on medical leave during the Spring 2016 semester and after his long battle with cancer passed away on March 12. I was truly blessed to have met him and learned so many valuable lessons from him.