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I met Mrs. Neidl in the ninth grade on a stage-design team for a play and she was one of the directors. Almost instantly I loved her. She had an Unpleasant voice and a direct way of speaking, 36 she was encouraging and inspiring. For some reason, she was impressed with my work and me. Mrs. Neidl would ask me for my 37 . She wanted to know how I thought we should 38 things. At first I had no idea how to answer because I knew 39 about stage design! But I slowly began to respond to her 40 . It was cause and effect: She believed I had opinions, so I began to 41 them. She trusted me to complete things, so I completed them perfectly. She loved how 42 I was, so I began to show up to paint more and more. She believed in me, so I began to believe in myself. Mrs. Neidl's 43 that year was, "Try it. We can always paint over it 44 !"I began to take 45 . I had been so afraid of failing but suddenly there was no failing--only things to be 46 upon. I learned to dip my brush into the paint and 47 create something. | 
