Dear Bronx Science,

You were far from perfect. I spent a significant amount of time inside your building wishing to be out, to be anywhere else, to be finally free and in college. Actually, that's probably a description of most high school students' brains. But believe me, when I say you were far from perfect, I mean it wholeheartedly. You had a way of chewing up and spitting out your students if they didn't follow the prescribed path that was deemed "right." You had an often-frustrating bureaucracy. Also, an overwhelming and unnecessary amount of homework.

But you know all of those things. You know what you put your students through. You don't need me to recount that for you. So that's not the story I want to tell right now.

I want to tell the story of the good things, because especially right now, while you're under fire, I want to offer you my support. Your students will trash talk you right up until the second someone else starts to, and now that someone has, I will defend you to the death.

Within your walls, bland-colored as they are, I learned how to be socially and politically aware. From my AP US Government teacher, I learned to have passion about who my country's leaders are and what they are doing. I can carry on informed and engaged discourse about politics, and I can in good conscience cast my vote this November and encourage others to do the same. And I can recognize yellow journalism when I see it, and denounce it for what it is.

Thanks to you, I learned that if you can debate and articulate your opinions respectfully, the people who are worth your time will listen. From my AP Spanish Language teacher, I learned how important it is to form a community and how far courtesy can go within that community and beyond its borders.

I learned the true meaning of diversity and inclusion, and what happens when those goals are not achieved. Admittedly, I learned part of that from racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally ignorant remarks I heard in the hallways and the classrooms, from both students and faculty. But I also learned a lot of it from the teacher of my Holocaust Leadership class, from my and my classmates' realizations that history might be about to repeat itself.

I learned about the importance of accountability and a good work ethic, skills that have served me well ever since. From my AP World History teachers, I learned how far those qualities take you in the real world, and how much easier it is to trust a person who embodies them.

I learned how much simple acts of genuine kindness can change a person's life. I still remember how much patience and a smile from my senior year gym teacher, even when I definitely didn't deserve it, positively impacted the way I went through my day.

And I learned from everyone in that building, both those who would agree with me on this and those who wouldn't, that when Bronx Science is attacked, we should and do rally together. I learned that when it comes right down to it, we are mostly a group of good people who won't stand for an injustice like rape being deemed "less important" than the largely harmless extracurricular activities of high school students. We might not always make the smartest choices, but at the end of the day, we know what is really important.

So this is my love letter to you, Bronx Science. I certainly wouldn't call you flawless, but love isn't perfect. And love doesn't mean you only stick around for the good stuff. It means that you're there for the rough patches, too.

To the world that exists outside of the Bronx Science walls--you don't get to mess with our school. Only we have that privilege.

Sending you strength and support from the faraway land of college,

Love,
Audrey Lang
Bronx Science Class of 2016