March 29, 2024

My Stars

Just recently I found out one of my favorite teachers, from my days of being sweet and innocent, has officially retired.

I was told that the teacher didn’t want her retirement to be known by the public on a grand scale. However, I couldn’t bear the idea of not taking some time to thank this teacher, not only for what she did for me as a student but for reminding me that I am never too old for a hug.

In a time, when many people felt my stars were already in place, you were one of the first who taught me that I can change my stars. Even after I left your classroom, you always made sure to check up on me when you saw me. Outside of my family, you were a big part in teaching me how to dream. If it wasn’t for you I would probably have given up a long time ago.

I want to thank you for what you did for me in the classroom and in life. You taught me that there was no fault in my stars but rather that I could place my own stars to become the man I am today.

Remember, whether you’re an alum or a current student, tell a teacher that they have made in impact in your life — they love it.

Well enough of this on to my column for the week.

On Thursday, I decided to watch the first viewing of the movie “The Fault In Our Stars.” I had previously read the book after a recommendation from a female friend. I absolutely loved this movie! It wasn’t your typical cliché young adult novel-to-movie adaptation, and it paid its respects to the book by remaining true to it, while giving an idea of what would happen if this story unfolded in a real world scenario.

I was infuriated, however, by the reviews the movie received, as I found many reviewers picking and pawning at the movie looking for its faults. The big one was how a few reviewers wrote Ansel Elgort, who played Angustus “Gus” Waters, was out of his league in this role and seemed to be trying too hard. Elgort was an amazing Gus. He had the attitude of the character from in the book and, in my mind, gave a certain reality to the role, which didn’t take away from the character but brought out the personality of Gus more and made the romantic chemistry between him and Hazel stronger.

The part that I love about this movie is that, although the romantic chemistry in the movie has many catalysts, in the end it creates a love story that leave women saying, “I hope there’s someone out there that can love me like that.”

It’s a love story that makes me laugh as well because, to most guys, the romantic side of Gus would be seen as uncool because we’re supposed to be the leaders. This makes me laugh, as many of the guys I have known and told that they will one day have to be that romantic character are now getting into relationships. At least once a week I will get a Facebook message saying, “How did you know this was going to happen?”

In the end, as I look ahead at the week, I know I will encounter some of my greatest stories with the chance of a nightmare in between, but through it all, it’s a good life.

Staff writer Zach Johnson may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 425, or at zjohnson@newtondailynews.com.