MacFarland and Mr. Escalante

While Mike Rose was going through a rough time with the loss of his father, someone shows up in his life to help him heal and to show that he has something to prove in life. MacFarland was a twenty-six and wanted to find a school to teach and ended up at Old Lady of Mercy and taught five sections of senior English. I think MacFarland had good intentions and wanted the students to recognize their potential. He gave them tons of homework and essays to write with the intentions of preparing them for college. Rose did not have a particular college in mind and did not plan on pursuing higher education. MacFarland believed in Rose and helped him get into Loyala even when USC and UCLA rejected Rose. I think MacFarland is similar to Mr. Escalante because he believed in his students and knew that they all had potential even though they did not recognize it themselves. MacFarland like Mr. Escalante had very good relationships with his students. Everyone knew not to give trouble to MacFarland and acknowledged his intelligence and the “hours he put into his work.” I think both MacFarland and Mr. Escalante were respected by their students because in the end, all they wanted to do was to help their students succeed.