Dear Professor,

Because of you, I love my college major. When I chose my major back in senior year, I was unsure I would actually enjoy journalism. I had always disliked writing papers and would rather go to math than english. When I began thinking about choosing a major, my parents told me I should choose a major where I could get a job I would enjoy going to every day. As a huge hockey fan, I thought, why not try sports broadcasting? So journalism became my major.

After my freshman year, I had serious doubts about whether or not I should continue pursuing a journalism major. I felt that my writing was not up to par, and I didn't necessarily enjoy doing the assignments I had for my introductory communications classes. Writing is not something that comes easily to me and it takes me a much longer time to produce a nice, clean piece of writing than it does for many others. I was also never really told my writing was more than just good. That's where you came in.

A couple of the communications professors I've had have discouraged me from wanting to continue with journalism. I have been told my writing was melodramatic and was not good enough, even though I had spent a month on the assignment writing and revising my work. I would work harder, and my grades would seem to get worse, and I felt helpless and stuck. Should I change my major? Did I even want to change my major? Or should I just stick it out and hope it gets better?

This semester, up until the end of Thanksgiving break, I was worried I needed to change my major soon because I felt like my work was not good enough and that it would not get any better, but thanks to you, I now love journalism and the possibilities it holds for me. Each class I attend is interesting and exciting, and the care you put towards making sure we all understand what we're doing and have a positive and educational experience does not go unnoticed. Whether it is holding individual meetings to discuss how to improve our assignments or helping us learn about things that we will one day experience as paid journalists, I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate it.

To those who have yet to have this experience with a professor, I hope that one day you do. Having a professor that believes in you and works to help you reach your potential is something that is so valuable and so helpful during the course of your college education.

So thank you professor, for helping me believe in my writing and for helping me fall in love with journalism.