I liked that attitude, "all that matters is the present", as in "he was pathetic but he rose and is no more" or something like that. On another note how does a teacher remember a student by just a single adjetive ? I mean there MUST have been a lot of pathetic students, its kinda impossible to be only 1 in the whole school.
I noticed that there are a lot of gift bags in the background, so how does it relate to the present slaved teacher ? is the author implying she sold herself or something ?