AP Precalculus teacher Bediz Efeciner Cagle made her way through college to pursue her love for education, motivating herself daily throughout her time there. However, she didn’t always have success when it came to learning. At a young age, Cagle describes her experience with school as challenging and “not the best time,” something that discouraged her in following the path.

“So I was never a good student,” Cagle said. “It’s not that I was a bad like, you know, causing any issues or anything, but I guess I wasn’t good at (studying). So when you don’t know how to study, or when you fall behind from your friends, then you become really frustrated, and, you know, you feel like you don’t understand. You feel like, ‘Am I stupid? I cannot do (this) like other people (can).’”

Cagle studied during the summer for tests that would help her pass her classes.

“So, I realized that when I came to high school, and I realized, okay, I want to go to college like all my friends, they want to go to college,” Cagle said. “But, I realized that, oh my God, I am really, really behind. And, I tried to pay more attention, and it was self-motivation.”

With that decision, she said she realized that she would be able to succeed in education despite what she had thought in the past.

“I was happy that, okay, I’m not bad,” Cagle said. “I can do this. So that’s the moment that it clicked to me. Okay, I can do this one. So, that’s how I (became) interested in, you know, math. ‘Wow, this is so fun.’ And I learned how to connect things in college.”

Unlike her previous experience with education, Cagle describes her learning during college as if she were doing puzzles, which she said made her happy and helped her to understand the topics while also letting her see math in a new light.

“At that moment, I guess I was realizing that, okay, I need to be a teacher, but I never thought that I would be a teacher in a K-12 setting,” Cagle said. “My goal was to be a teacher in like a higher education setting. So from there, I say, okay, let’s go and get my masters and my PhD. That’s how I continued my education.”

From there, Cagle earned her degree in education and has been teaching since 2008.

“There are many things that you say why I’m doing this job,” Cagle said. “But two days later, when you receive an email from a student that (says), ‘Oh, Mrs. Cagle, thank you so much for your help.’

According to Cagle, those notes bring perspective.

“Okay, now I know why I’m doing this job,” she said. “I know it’s a cliché answer, but believe me, it makes a huge difference.”

Cagle characterizes AP Precalculus as difficult, so she tries her best to help her students in any way she can.

“Math is overwhelming,” Cagle said. “(In) most of the classrooms that we have, the posters (are) like math-related and everything. So for some people, math is so intimidating, so I don’t want to put all these things that are math-related, that it’s like, (it) already overwhelms you. So that’s why I say, ‘Okay, I don’t want to be that.'”

To make her classroom more comfortable for her students, Cagle decorates it with colors that give “good vibes,” along with stuffed animals and art from her previous students.

“I’m spending most of my time in here, so I want to be like a home, comfortable,” Cagle said. “Some of them say, during the test, they say, ‘can I have an animal with me during the test?’ That’s the reason, you know, there’s a reasoning behind it, whether I have all those toys and during the years, whoever, one of whoever is my students, that they are in art, like they love drawing, I always ask them, at the end of the year, I want you guys leave me a piece of sketch or anything.”

At the end of each school year, Cagle asks her students for mementos to remember them by.

“Gosh, I don’t remember the year, but every year, you know, sometimes you guys give me Thanksgiving cards, Christmas cards, you guys see that I have a huge, huge binder that I never throw them. I keep them since I have years sometimes I go and look at it. Yes, I am getting old, emotionally.”

Cagle also said that her experience with teaching this year has been a lot more productive because of two things — Minga and the phone ban.

“It is a huge difference,” Cagle said. “Maybe it’s the maturity too, I think. But, I mean, I had the same age level before in Algebra 2 or everything, but it’s a game changer.”

Cagle has noticed many differences from her previous year to her current year, including herself and her students.

“It’s much easier to give you guys a praise from Minga and all these new stuff,” Cagle said. “It is much better. Or maybe the maturity of you guys (has) changed, and then maybe I am getting older and then wiser. I don’t know so, but it feels like it’s total different than last year.”

Despite expressing her love for her job, Cagle recounts her experience of being a teacher as extremely tough.

“There are many, many days that I question myself why I am doing this job,” Cagle said. “There are sometimes I ask my husband, how a person loves their job and profession this much, but at the same time they can dislike it that much. This is one of those jobs.”

However, one of the main reasons she continues going as a teacher is her students.

“There are many things that (are) why I’m doing this job, but two days later, when you receive an email from a student that, Oh, Mrs. Cagle, thank you so much for your help, it says, okay, now I know why I’m doing this job,” Cagle said. “I know it’s a cliche answer, but believe me, it makes a huge difference, or whenever you see your (previous) students, that they do become someone, and I say, ‘you know what, I was a part of that person.'”

Cagle is always happy to continue her relationships with her past and present students.

“You know, if you are friends with (them) on the Facebook, I know it’s an old person social media now, but still, you would like to see those, and you realize that, okay, it is worth it,” Cagle said. “Out of 1000s, this happens, maybe 10 of them, maybe 20, if you’re lucky, 50. But again, just to be able to see that once in a while, that makes you really proud and happy.”

Her dream as a teacher is to make connections with her students that will last forever.

“So my goal is to make sure that you guys get everything that you need,” Cagle said. “And, I want to make sure, to ensure, you guys that we are going to do this together, and even though it’s my first time, it’s your first time as well. So that’s why we are going to grow together, and we are going to make sure that you are going to get the best outcome possible.”