Dear Mentors,

Gratitude does not properly embody the emotional debt you garner with every pupil sent out into the world. You made life worth living. You revealed the light of life and the thrill of vocation.

You are the reason knowledge is powerful. You appeal to the better angels in our nature as simply as flipping a switch. You imbued kindness with the gravity of survival. You made cliches come alive and anxieties wither.

You made human beings out of gods. You taught us not only what it was to hunger for knowledge, but how to eat well. The art of expertise was woven into young minds by your gentle hands.

It is because of you that despite all the suffering and struggle the world goes through, each year it gets a little better. With each failure, there are ten new successes because of your stalwart influence. You enable the brothers and sisters of the Earth to sit next to each other at the table of peace.

It is the sincere hope of all generations now and beyond, that you, the shepherds of the soul, continue your great work in earnest.

With love,

Your student