Anyhow, I told myself that, regardless of who the teacher is, even if he or she will be as strict as a soldier, I would take up the subject.

It was the 8th of November last year when I first saw my new, American teacher, as I entered our classroom, the UE-FRASI seminar room. When Prof. Gerald Burns introduced himself and the subject— American literature—to us, the first thing that came to my mind was, "My English proficiency will surely be challenged with this subject..." — which for me would be really nice. He presented us the course guideline and the syllabus, and his preparedness connoted a sense of order for the whole semester. Eventually, he proved me right.

In nearly six months, our class achieved a remarkable improve-ment in writing critical essays and interpreting poems. The sleeping Shakespeares within us awoke. We tackled poems of Robert Frost, African-American poets and female writers. We also had short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, Richard Wright and Tillie Olsen, to name a few; a play by Thornton Wilder, and novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Carlos Bulosan. Little by little, even the most uninterested among us students were restored to life. Most of us developed an ability to write good criticisms and interpret poems. What seemed to be an impossible task at first, of making our teenage minds love literature, Dr. Burns accomplished. We were introduced to the magical world of American literature and we learned to love it.

Just like in our other classes, we experienced "challenges" here. When Dr. Burns asked us to read the Wilder play "Our Town" and only three pairs of students

were able to do so, primarily because the reading was assigned to us before the Christmas break. We could tell that he was disappointed and that served as a lesson to all of us. We improved on our succeeding readings. The syllabus was strictly followed. Despite some hindrances, such as the suspension of classes last February, would you believe that we were able to do all our assigned tasks for the semester? You may have doubts, but all were completed.

I noticed that we learned all the more not to take things for granted, that we try as much as possible to do the assigned tasks. Besides, we dove into our assigned readings because we actually want to, excited with the turn of events in the short stories and novels. We have been taking part in the classroom discussions because we actually know the answers! We respect Prof. Burns, not because we are afraid of him but because he earned our respect. He has never imposed harsh policies; we follow him because we want to.

I still don't know how he did it. He would say things directly to us without hurting our feelings, and he has his own way of attracting students to what he teaches.

I can say that I did it right by enrolling in the subject. I have learned a lot from Prof. Burns and certainly have no regrets.

What else can I say? Nothing more, but that Dr. Burns' class is "burning" ...with the passion for American literature and the gratitude and respect we have for our beloved Professor.