The best advice I ever received from a teacher, the teacher probably doesn't even remember giving me. It was so simple, so easy, so passed by.

Being a hopeful writer can be pretty intimidating. The authors you look up to the most were honest. They were blunt. They were courageous. But how can I ever be like that? How can I lay it all out on the line? Me, the one who has always been a private, keep my business to myself kind of person.

“What do you want to be?” asked my professor of a writing class I took senior year of undergrad, during a one-on-one conference.

“I want to write. I want to really write the kind of stuff we write in class. Memoirs, personal essays, stuff like that, but I don’t know if I will.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“I don’t know if I can tell people about personal stuff, about me or people in my life.”

What she said next wasn’t anything like, “You can be anything you want to be in the world.” She uttered two words that I still repeat to myself almost every day. She said those two words that apply to my writing, but can also apply to anything in my life, and yours.

What came next helped me let my entire class that semester read about some of my most personal moments in my life. It helped me realize that I can write whatever I want to and not be afraid. Well, I’ll be honest, I’ll always be afraid, but I know I can push past that fear.

This teacher helps me walk out of that conference with my head held high, and shaped my positive attitude today.

Teachers often help students in ways they don’t realize. They don’t get enough credit and teacher appreciation week isn’t enough. That is why I plan to send this to her when it is all done and polished.

So thank you, teachers, and thank you in particular, and yes, I will always “be brave.”