When I was in the seventh grade, I had    1    (difficult) behaving. My heart was in the right place, but I couldn’t always follow the rules. I played many tricks    2    my schoolmates. Once, I even pulled a girl’s hair on the school bus to get her attention. As    3    result, I was repeatedly sent to the office of the headmaster. Although I hated going there, I did not hate the headmaster, Mr. Smith.

When he punished me for     4    (put) some ants into a classmate’s pencil box, it didn’t hurt at all, but it did hurt my feelings. I thought so much of him and moments like that seemed    5    (prove) I was hopelessly bad.

When I was called to Mr. Smith’s office for the sixth time, I had no idea what I had done. I felt    6    (disappoint) as I walked down there. I went into his office, sat down, and    7    (look) at the floor. Then he said the last thing I expected to hear. “Kevin, I’ve heard you’ve been behaving really well    8    (recent). I want you to know how proud I am of you.”

Mr. Smith was really kind. He made me realize that I was just a kid     9    had problems with     10    (behave). Mr. Smith gave me some hope by giving me some love. I will just remember him forever.