To my high school teachers,

I miss you all so much.

I miss having teachers like you who cared so much about your students and wanted to give them the best education possible. I miss being able to walk into class and have mature, friendly conversations with you, where you weren’t just someone grading my papers, but were also my mentors, role models, and creative inspirations.

I’m not saying my professors at college have been terrible in any way. They know what they’re talking about and are perfectly nice and friendly, some even with great senses of humor. But here’s where they differ from you all: I don’t feel like I’ve learned anything significant from them. Sure, I’ve done well on my exams, but it feels like I could have done just as well by only reading the textbook and watching YouTube videos on the subjects. There luckily have been a few exceptions here and there, but most of my professors stick to the dry and monotonous structure of making PowerPoints and reading off of them, causing most of my studying to be memorization, rather than actual application. I don’t feel like almost any of them made an impact on my life or educational career in any way.

This causes me to think back to you, my high school teachers who made class interesting, interactive, and actually taught me things that I still remember to this day. You all put in so much effort, whether it was staying before and after school and forming study groups when it wasn’t even required, or creating intricate projects and activities just to help us better understand difficult material. You believed in us as students, pushed us to work hard, and were caring individuals at the same time. Maybe the teaching was the way it was because I went to a fairly small high school with less than 200 kids in my graduating class, but I think you all would’ve been just as passionate, caring, and determined if that class size was doubled or even tripled. You made Windham High School feel like a family, and even though I’m not there anymore, I still feel like I’m a part of that family, and always will be.

Not only did you make my high school experience amazing, but many of you were the ones who inspired me to study education and pursue teaching. You’ve all made such a positive impact on me, and I want to be able to give that to others. I can’t thank you enough for the passion you have for teaching, the meaningful advice you’ve given me, and the inspiration that you gave me and plenty of others to also begin the journey toward becoming teachers.

Sincerely,

Sophie, your favorite student (kidding, kidding!)