Day 55 - Mr. Villamagna

Mr. V is the most passionate teacher I have yet to encounter. I took his American History I and II for college credit my junior year in high school, but he expected more than many college professors I came to know. He was medium height and build, had dark hair, glasses and a New York accent. He would scream, jump up and down, and bang chalk boards and desks with yard sticks to emphasize points.

This was the first class during which I actually read and mostly remembered both assigned texts. I read, took notes on, studied, and was quizzed on 26 chapters of the textbook, not to mention the second book Mr. V picked: Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. For a slacker student like me, who usually lucked-out in receiving mostly A's, it was surprising to need to actually work.

Mr. V demanded you stick to the reading schedule, answer insanely detailed questions from your notes and participate in lectures. He also had really clever writing assignments. I wrote my first (and only) bad history book review after half-reading three different books on the Kennedy's and I interviewed two different people to find their historic viewpoint and analyze it (which I still think is cool).

Mr. V made me work my ass off to get decent grades, and took the time to get to know me. We weren't best friends, but he knew what I was involved in, who I was dating and my general taste in music and movies. He was a blast. But none of that was factored into my grades, I had to work.

Mr. V is the reason most of college felt like a breeze. His was still one of the hardest classes I ever took.