We recently celebrated Spirit Week at my high school, and Thursday was Hero Day.

Most students put on a cape and ran around as if they were superheroes, but some chose to be a little different. They dressed like a solider or a firefighter, real heroes in the real world.

Because Hero Day followed the presidential debate, and because I am a staunch supporter of Mitt Romney, the man and his principles, I decided to wear a shirt that read, “Romney, Believe In America.”

After all, he is my hero.

My substitute advisory teacher was not at all impressed. As our advisory tallied how many students participated in Spirit Week that day, she refused to include me in the count. “Mitt Romney is not a hero,” she said to me.

I was shocked, but I wasn’t about to argue with the teacher.

I did not write this letter to complain about being excluded in the count for Spirit Week, but I wrote it to defend my hero.

Instead of dismissing my beliefs and claiming that Romney is no hero, this teacher could have learned what about the man I admire, why I would stand behind and support him.

Heroes come in a variety of different fashions. I’m sure many politically liberal, self-reliant, lesbians consider Rachel Maddow to be their hero, just as much as many young African-Americans see Barack Obama as a hero.

For one to say Romney is not a hero is not only rude, but ludicrous.

Romney is probably the most respectable presidential candidate in more than 30 years with such an impressive and principled life.

I’m a Mormon, and Romney is my hero.

Joshua Marks, Eliot