Everyone has a teacher, or a few, who have helped really shape them into the people that they are now. However, almost everyone can say that they had one teacher who above all really was there for them whether it was in the classroom, or after the last bell rang.

To the teacher who always had my back,

I would like to start this off by saying that you deserve so many more thanks than I alone can give. From the first day of class, to the day that I was holding my diploma in my hand, you were there for every step of it. Most people will have a teacher that they really liked and made a point to see once in a while when they had moved up in class levels, but you were the person who I would go to frequently no matter what year I was in. You not only taught me the curriculum that you were being paid to teach me, but you taught me so much about life as well. You didn't have to let me sit on a desk in your classroom and furiously complain about how ridiculous I thought my best friend was being, or give me advice on if it was really worth it to go to prom.

You didn't have remind me not to take myself too seriously when I was pacing back and forth with tears in my eyes because my boyfriend and I broke up. You didn't have to joke around with me about how something bad seemed to happen to me every Thursday. However you did all those things anyways. You listened to me, and made me feel like I wasn't just another student, but that I was a person who had valid feelings and ideas and that I deserved to be heard even though I was young.

Without you, I would not be the person that I am now. I wouldn't be able to remind myself that I am young and have time to make mistakes and that it's really not the end of the world when something goes wrong. I wouldn't be able to laugh at myself, or speak out about what I believe in. You showed me how important it is to be there for others, and have faith in them. You showed me that sometimes all people really need is for someone to listen to them and not say anything because all they want is to be heard. I am a better person because of you, and I could never thank you enough for that.

I can only hope that other students of yours will see that you really do care a lot, and will be able to say that you had such a big influence on them as you did on me.