My talents were not appreciated by all, however, in particular a crotchety old teacher by the name of Washburn. When I broke up a classroom discussion by giving an answer in four different voices, she reprimanded me sternly; too sternly, if you ask me. “You'll never amount to anything,” she said scornfully. “You're just like your last name: blank.” Her stinging insult so shamed me that when I was sixteen, I started spelling my surname with ac instead of ak. Later, as an adult, I changed it legally.(English)
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