I think the bad teachers also influenced you in a good way. You learned what made a teacher ineffective and therefore can avoid it yourself.

Your story about writing imaginative essays matches my experience in high school. We were rewarded for imaginative works right until the final year, at which point it was all about quoting from different scholars and academics. Being a rebel, I refused, and therefore didn't score as highly as some of my peers. Still, I can look back and be proud that I didn't do too badly despite using my original thoughts.