Recently I discovered a tutorial website. They offer many different tutorials, all of which are very in-depth. You can tell they put a lot of time and effort into developing these tutorials for people. I truly admire people that do things like this.

I read through a few tutorials and the comments (because I love seeing what other people create and get out of tutorials), and I was disgusted to see a lot of negative comments on one tutorial in particular. Many of the people commenting were downing the tutorial, saying it was “too easy,” and that the tutorial is the “equivalent of ‘filler songs’ on albums.” A few people said they were disappointed because the tutorial was simple.

I don’t understand why, since these people think they’re so great, they come to a tutorial website in the first place. If they think they are so much better, then why do they need to read tutorials?

I mean, yes, the tutorial was simple, but a lot of people — myself included — can benefit from it. It shows you how to recreate a digital art style that is very popular right now. Even if the end result is simple, you can very easily take the concepts shown in the tutorial and make some great stuff.

This tutorial wasn’t the only one people complained about. I read through a few more and every once in a while someone would whine and say it was too easy. I just don’t understand these people. If it’s so easy, why did you click on the link to the tutorial in the first place? When I scrolled through their list of Photoshop tutorials, there were a few that I said to myself, “I already know how to do that,” but it’s not like I read through the whole tutorial and then commented saying, “this is too easy, boo-hoo.”

Can’t we just be grateful to the people who give all of their free time toward teaching others? Can’t we just leave a comment saying “thank you” instead of crying about how easy it is? Hell, if you are such a Photoshop master, maybe you should be running a tutorial site. Then again, I wouldn’t want a teacher like you.

Teachers guys deal with a lot of bullshit, and they don’t get enough credit. If it weren’t for teachers, I wouldn’t be where I am today. There have been a handful of teachers who have inspired me and encouraged me, and I am forever grateful for their mentoring.

Mrs. McCasland (my first grade teacher) and Mrs. Paternostro (my first grade teacher before Mrs. McCasland), were the first to truly inspire me. They both had the most patience I have ever seen in anyone. They were kind and brilliant women, and even when I was in middle school they still continued to influence me. I can remember Mrs. McCasland offering to tutor me in math, because I was having a hard time passing seventh grade math. Just that kind gesture made me more determined to pass, and I did (though just barely).

I had Miss Crane for fifth grade. She encouraged me to keep writing, and she always pushed me to write better. I would hand in various stories and writing assignments, and she would tell me what I needed to change to make it better. She was the first teacher I ever had who corrected me, and even though I hated it sometimes it made me a better writer. She called me Liza Manelli, and she always complimented me on my hair. It felt great to be complimented by her, and she was my role model for that year. I wanted to be just like her.

Mrs. DeMatteis — I’m sorry if I butchered your name! — was my sixth grade math teacher. She wrote out every step for every problem on the board, and drilled note-taking skills into our heads. I excelled in math that year, and even now I still use the basic note-taking principles she taught us. I also loved the Clue-like deduction puzzles she always gave us, and how she always assigned us Sherlock Holmes stories. She was also my homeroom teacher, and I still love her.

Mrs. Stango was my sixth grade English teacher. I didn’t like her at first. I thought she was the meanest person in the world, because she always picked me to read or called on me for answers. I was a smart kid, but I didn’t want any of the other kids to notice me. When the year was almost over, I finally began to appreciate her. She and her husband — my print shop teacher — were two of the kindest people I have ever known, especially at the middle school I attended, and especially when it seemed like I was all alone. I grew to love her and realized that she wasn’t picking on me; she recognized me for what I was and wanted to help me tap into my prowess with reading and writing.

In high school, Chef B became my mentor and father figure outside of home. He was always cracking jokes and always made his students feel good about themselves. Sandy and I skipped nearly an entire day of Culinary a couple of times, and even though he was really disappointed in us he thought we should stick together. He fought for Sandy to stay at our vocational school rather than go on to adult ed. Chef B was a fighter, and he fought cancer for a short time before passing away in October 2004. Culinary was not the same without him, and we all had a hard time adjusting to the slew of new teachers who took his staff position.

I didn’t really have any other great teachers until my first semester of college. Professor Harding — who is editing my novel — taught the first English course I took. At first he seemed like a hardass, but I quickly realized that he brought out the best in his students. He pressed us until we used our minds to their fullest capacity. He taught me how to think critically, and I learned more in that semester about reading and writing than I have in my entire life. I took his Creative Writing class last semester, and I learned even more. I hated the poetry section but as usual he was right; reading and writing poetry made me a better writer.

When I started my first non-freelance, stable web design job for my city’s newspaper, I was a little intimidated. My boss made me feel like I fit right in and he has taught me more about web development in a little over a year than I learned in two-plus years of college.

So thank you, to all of the teachers who influenced me and kept me going, and to all of the teachers out there who do this every day and don’t get acknowledged for it. Thank you for doing what you do, and don’t let the trolls of the world stop you.