Every experience leaves a footprint in our life. We may all feel confused and aimless at some point while we are growing up, but I feel that my setbacks have taught me to be grateful for every crisis that may be a turning point in my life.

I stumbled once in my days in junior high school. A demerit was doled out to me--unjustly, in my view, by a physics-chemistry teacher that I had liked and trusted. From then on I grew more and more hostile towards that teacher, and the passage of time did not ease the pain and anger I experienced because of the incident.

My views became radical and my behavior impetuous. I was a rebel without a cause and I confronted my teachers unreasonably. In those days, I couldn't see how lost I was and how irrational my actions were, and, in my ignorance, I made many mistakes. On the surface I fiercely expressed my disdain for my teachers, but in fact I was refusing to come to terms with my feelings of helplessness.

Things went on like this until one day when a sentence appeared in my physics-chemistry homework that shook me to the depths of my heart: "I have noticed that you are paying more attention to your studies. I hope you can keep up the good work." It stirred up long-buried emotions and a strong current of warmth permeated my heart.

No matter how disdainfully I had treated that teacher, I was profoundly moved. For years I have tried to hold on to what I felt at that moment. My teacher's casual words of encouragement turned out to be the most important turning point of my life.

Encounters can be joyful or hapless, and every story has its own profound meaning. My last year in junior high school has become the most memorable year in my life, perhaps because it includes that teacher. Even though we had heated arguments and confrontations, even though I once insulted him while arrogantly pointing a finger at him, my teacher was always accommodating and forgiving. His attitude won my admiration, and it is what I learned most from in that year.

There are no "ifs" in history, and one's life cannot be lived again. If it had not been for that teacher, my life may have taken a completely different course. I will always miss that teacher and harbor indescribable gratitude toward him. No words can adequately describe what I feel, and these recurrent, deep emotions will stay with me forever.

Teacher, thank you!