This happened to me when I was in the first grade back in 1985. I was six years old at the time. I still remember her, Mrs. Long. Of course as a kid, you are curious and ask a lot of questions. But in this case, I had difficulty understanding the assignment that our teacher gave to us. I remember asking her more than one question that day. When I walked up to her desk to ask her another question, I saw her roll her eyes and shake her head as if I was bothering her. Even though she answered my question, I felt I did something wrong and felt bad about it.

This incident always stuck with me growing up for years. It always made me feel that asking questions for help is wrong. So, I stopped doing it starting from second grade all the way through high school, even when I joined the military when I was 19. But today, I realize that she was wrong for what she did because I had a high school teacher and a supervisor in the military who were unhappy that I didn't ask questions to get help for assignments. As a school teacher, it is their job to help students succeed in life, not to set them up for failure, no matter how many times a student might ask questions to get help. And no student should ever feel ashamed or embarrassed to ask for help no matter what grade that they're in.