The C-wing at Bellevue East High School is bustling with a variety of languages and numerous quantities of knowledge and skill levels. Students move in and out of the rooms, going in the room knowing one language, and coming out knowing another.
Piper Porras is a Spanish instructor at Bellevue East. She teaches the upper levels of Spanish. Those levels are 4, 5, and AP. Her colleagues and students regard her to be a very influential and effective teacher, and Porras herself is full of life lessons that she is willing to share with others.
“She is a bundle of energy and she is a giving and caring person,” Spanish Department Chair Angelica Musil said. “She’s an awesome colleague and friend.”
It is not only her colleagues that revere Porras as a considerate person. Her students view her as highly kindhearted as well. Kiriat Ruiz Irizarry is a sophomore in Porras’ Spanish class.
“I feel like she’s influenced me to be a lot more optimistic and positive,” Ruiz Irizarry said. “She’s always kind of like, just brings the best energy. It’s contagious; it really rubs off on you.”
Porras said she strongly believes in seeing the best in people, even if they “prove you wrong.” She said that humans should always assume the best in people, and that behind every action is a reason.
“I really try to remember there’s a million invisible things going on in their life, so I try my best to understand that,” Porras said. “Not to say everyone’s wonderful, but there’s a million layers that a lot of us can’t see. I try to forgive, but it doesn’t mean I forget. But you have to let it go at some point.”
Ruiz Irizarry said that she feels that Porras’ teaching style is not everything has to be for a grade, just as long as you’re learning – a concept that she is highly thankful for. When socializing with Porras, Ruiz Irizzary said she doesn’t take things as personally anymore, and when talking with Porras she feels positive and less reactive.
“Recently I’ve been dealing with the loss of one of my friends, and she’s been very big on helping me and just talking to me and just helping me work through the issues,” Ruiz Irizarry said.
Porras spoke of many lessons, but she mainly emphasized that she wished student s- and people in general – would treat their lives more like a gift, and that everyone should be more compassionate with themselves and each other.
She also believes that everyone could benefit from seeing a mental health professional at least once in their lives.
“When you ask people if you think your life is a gift, they’ll off handedly say like, ‘sure, woohoo,’ but I don’t think people treat their bodies like it’s a gift and I don’t think they treat others like it’s a gift either,” Porras said. “If you truly think life is a gift, there are things we should all be working on… at some point, everyone would benefit from a session with a mental health professional. If you have childhood trauma, that’s going to carry on into adulthood and other relationships, and if you don’t, you’ll eventually face something.”