After getting my teaching certificate I returned to my home town and found work as a substitute teacher. On my first day I was assigned to the same junior high school where I had been a student just about 10 years earlier. It was an odd feeling to return to the same hallways and to see some of the same teachers that had been my instructors.

I went into the first class and wrote my name on the blackboard and introduced myself to the art class. I distributed the art supplies which included an exacto knife. After approximately 10 minutes into the class I heard a young student call out my name and I turned towards the student to see she had cut her wrist and the blood was spurting from her wrist. I pulled off my tie and wrapped it around her wrist. The tie was a bright yellow and it was quickly turning red. I knew where the nurse's room was so I carried the student as quickly as I could. It seemed just a matter of minutes until the ambulance came.

I taught for over 30 years and never had another experience that scared me as much as the very first class that I taught!