Ms. Barb Ressler is, for many, the first English teacher students have when they come to Wahlert and the last they have before they leave. Many of her assignments focus on creativity and self-discovery, topics she considers vital to life.

As she runs around the room assigning seats for her next class, she talks about her discipline What she says  perfectly coincides with the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on her wall, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Her love of her subject matter is clear. “English is about big ideas and questions, words and fun with them, expression and creativity,” said Ressler. “In a nutshell, it’s meaningful to me. It’s like both the basement of a house and it’s roof, foundational and reaching to the heavens.”

When it comes to exploring faith and a relationship with God, Ressler feels that taking an interest in religion is necessary to one’s development as a person.

“I just think it’s human to ask those existential questions. Having that faith orientation is seeking meaning. Faith provides meaning.”

Spending as much time around high schoolers as she does, Ressler  has some advice she wanted to pass along.

“Ask yourself, ‘In 20 years is it going to make any difference? Will anyone care or know?’ Put and keep things in perspective. The things people most stress over is the most irrelevant or insubstantial concern. High school comes and goes; it’s not a permanent situation.”

That being said, life isn’t all about exploring yourself and having happy memories. When things get difficult, it is important to have a support system and people to lean on.

“I’d say I have absolutely wonderful friends and they’re reliable, mature; they’ve done their own inner work. They’re not misleading or trying to lead you in the wrong direction. I also have some very loving family members,” said Ressler.

“It’s not that you don’t change or evolve in how you do things and what you know.”  Ressler encourages students to , “Continue to grow and learn things and adapt. There are so many things you’d have never thought of and now you wonder about.”