Part Two: Fighting the Lie

At the beginning of Grade 7, I hoped this year would be better than the previous ones. I no longer had to go to Resource Classes. I had moved over to the building that hosted both the Junior High Schoolers and High Schoolers. As with many preteens, I spent most of my time focused on making friends rather than attempting to achieve decent grades. Just a few weeks after the new school year started, my disbelief in achieving better grades was validated by the school’s guidance counsellor. Yet, my new teacher did not agree with Mr. B’s prediction.

Mr. Molloy was a dynamic teacher. He often would break up the dreary task of learning the curriculum with sharing his own stories from his childhood or his experiences as a new father raising a toddler who had just learned to walk and talk. By the end of his story, every student’s sides hurt from laughter over his stand-up routine. For reasons I could not understand, after those stories, my ability to learn something new went from struggling to comprehend; to understanding the new concept within the first lesson. For the first time in my memory, by the time my initial Grade 7 report card came out, I went from a straight D student to a straight B student.

As the weather started to warm up at the end of March, I was aware that this temporary success was coming to an end. The first warm day of early spring, I couldn’t wait to get outside. My inability to concentrate on my in-class assignment resulted in Mr. Molloy insisting that I stay in the class to finish it. This was the first time I had received a detention. There was only one other person forced to stay behind that day, and he was the class ‘troublemaker.’ I fought back the tears at the thought of being lumped in with the bad boy. The only thing I was guilty of was not knowing how to solve one math problem. I was scared how my parents would react.

Mr. Molloy remained patient as he began to work with me. My teacher’s help session was frequently interrupted by the troublemaker, so Mr. Molloy let the defiant student leave early. I was angry and jealous that he let the other guy go, but this did end the interruptions.

The math concept I was trying to learn, eluded me. It was just one question of many, and I couldn’t see how I was going to finish the worksheet in less than hour. Each variation Mr. Molloy presented to me, the tears became more intense. I repeated several times, “I can’t do this. I have a learning disability. I’m too stupid to learn. You know this!”

Mr. Molloy wasn’t accepting excuses, “Yes, you can and will,” he paused to add emphasis, “you get this one question right, I will mark it [the assignment] as complete.”

I accepted his bribe and sobbed through each variation to solve the problem. Patiently, he slowly took me through every single baby-step. With just a few minutes left of the lunch hour, I finally understood how to get the right answer.

I will never forget how this ginger-haired, comical young father and teacher, threw both freckled arms in the air and yelled, “You got it!”

As I dried my tears and packed up my things to get ready for the next part of my school day, Mr. Molloy looked me in the eye and said with a tone of certainty, “You are not stupid. You are actually very smart. It just might take you a little longer to get the right answer. Don’t ever let anyone tell you can’t do it because you can. You just proved that!”

The rest of my schooling career remained a struggle. I went on to graduate high school taking all Advanced level courses. I fought with everything I had to keep myself from failing. When my parents became frustrated over my school marks and my father used verbal negative reinforcement to push me, it was Mr. Molloy’s words, that sustained my perseverance. As I went to St. Lawrence College and all my theory classes barely made the passing grade, I would remind myself, “It just might take me a little longer to get the right answer.” When I received near perfect marks for each college lab assignment, I remembered Mr. Molloy saying to me “You are actually very smart…You just proved that!”  In 2002, I graduated from college with a Diploma in Veterinary Technology.

One would hope that this would be my happy ending, however I still did not know the full truth behind why I could not keep up with the rest of my peers.

Watch for Part 3: Resignation on November 29, 2025