You Belong Here

Image by Liesl Barry ‘26

How one teacher’s battle with dyslexia shaped his life and career

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Sun Park ’27

“I felt like an imposter.” 

This phrase echoed throughout my interview with Pat Harris, my former English teacher whose battle with dyslexia has profoundly shaped his life and career. The statement carries the weight that so many students with learning disabilities face daily: the challenge of finding their place in a world where academic success is often measured by rigid standards of speed and perfection. 

Diagnosed during his junior year of high school, Pat had to navigate a system that wasn’t designed for someone like him. He described how, in a classroom full of students who breezed through assignments, reading felt like an insurmountable challenge to him. His sister’s academic success (early admission to Brown University, then Harvard) highlighted his sense of being the odd one out in an academically inclined family. Pat felt like an imposter trying to keep up.

Pat recalls his early education vividly. “I never wanted to read out loud. I really hated when teachers asked you to read out loud.” It wasn’t just about reading; it was about being seen, and the dread that people would discover that he didn’t belong in the same academic spaces as they did. The fear of being perceived as “not good enough” followed him everywhere, emphasizing how the fear of making mistakes and being seen as “less than” haunted him throughout his school years.

“I really liked English, but I was scared to be an English major in college because I felt like I would be an imposter there,” Pat said. He took one English course his first semester, only to find himself surrounded by peers who seemed more confident, more well-read, and more “at home” in the subject than he ever did. “I just felt like those were all kids who had read more than me and liked to read more,” he explained, highlighting how dyslexia made him feel behind in many ways.

During his freshman year of college, Pat enrolled in a geology class, considering the subject as a potential major. He had just finished writing a paper, but there was one word, “schist,” that kept giving him trouble. Dyslexia had always made certain letter combinations, like “c” and “h,” particularly hard for him to spell. “That combo always tripped me up,” he recalled.

When the paper came back, he was stunned. The professor had deducted two points every time he misspelled ‘schist’ in his 12-page paper. The repeated error dragged his score down to a 26. “If I had spelled this one word correctly, I would have gotten a 97. Instead, I got way below failing,” Pat said. He had approached the professor, hoping for a chance to make corrections, but the professor refused. “No. It’s a lesson to learn to check your words more carefully,” he told me.

Pat didn’t argue. He walked away thinking geology wasn’t something he could pursue. “I thought, ‘This is a subject I can’t handle,’” he said.

Spanish posed challenges as well. A teacher in high school had told Pat bluntly, “You’re never going to learn this. You’re not going to be able to do it.” Such words might have been the breaking point for many students, but Pat was too stubborn to give in. Instead, he pushed forward, determined to prove that teacher wrong.

Pat retook beginner-level Spanish in college, even though it felt like starting over. “Everyone around me seemed to be advancing, and there I was, back at square one.” But through persistence and hard work, Pat not only passed but majored in Spanish. “It’s one of the things I’m most proud of,” he said.

His struggles didn’t end there. The feeling of “not being enough” extended beyond academics and lingered throughout his life. In graduate school, even though he had formal accommodations for dyslexia, such as extra time on exams, he still struggled with feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment. He recalled his early teaching years, describing how stress and pressure sometimes led him to make mistakes in front of his students, such as flipping letters on the board or misspelling words.

“One of the kids was like, ‘Hey, you do that just like me!’” Pat said.

For Pat, this moment was a turning point. It gave him the chance to talk about his dyslexia openly, and more importantly, to reassure his students, many of whom also had learning disabilities, that they could succeed as well. 

“You’re never going to grow out of this,” he told them, “but you can be successful. You’re going to have to work harder than other people to get to the same place, but you will get there.”

Pat’s story reveals the hidden realities of students with learning disabilities. The shame, the self-doubt, and the feelings of not being good enough can overshadow even their greatest strengths. The fear of being “found out” often drives students to hide their struggles, just as Pat did for so many years. “I wouldn’t tell anyone about it,” he said, reflecting on how he managed his dyslexia in silence, even when it would have been easier to ask for help.

But what stands out the most is how Pat’s experience as a student shaped him into the teacher he is today. He is deeply empathetic toward students who might be going through the same struggles he did. He actively works to create an inclusive and supportive environment where students feel like they truly belong, whether they’re the fastest readers in the class or the ones who need extra time.

“Now, I’m not ashamed of it,” Pat says of his dyslexia. In fact, he uses it as a tool for connection, to help students realize that their abilities are not determined by how quickly one can read or how well one can spell. “I go into every class assuming there are kids who, on some level, believe they don’t belong there,” Pat explained, noting how imposter syndrome can be especially prevalent among students with learning disabilities. “The thing I want kids to feel like when they leave the classroom is that over the course of the semester, they actually belonged there.”

Yet Pat’s  journey wasn’t just about overcoming dyslexia. It was about redefining success in a system that often overlooks students with learning disabilities. And now, as a teacher, Pat makes sure those students hear one message loud and clear: “You belong here. You were chosen to be here.”

To Pat, the greatest lessons aren’t just about knowledge; they’re about resilience.