I am a strong believer that the teachers you have in high school can make a huge impact on who you find yourself becoming when you leave. Not all of them, of course. There are pleasant teachers and unpleasant ones, effective and ineffective. We all have had teachers that have frustrated us, challenged us, bored us, or made us laugh. We've also had teachers that have inspired us. For me, that inspiration came from my high school English teacher.

Growing up, I always enjoyed reading and writing. I had encouragement about my writing from teachers throughout grade school, but when you get to high school it's a whole new world. All of a sudden, classes get harder and the workload becomes heavier. Your classmates seem to discover a stronger voice and sense of opinion than in years before, and it is hard to tell whether your previous confidence about your ability is justified or not. All of a sudden, I found myself as a senior in an AP Lit class surrounded by students with impeccable vocabularies and brilliant intuition. It was a bit overwhelming, as I used to have a bad habit of comparing myself with others. I'd hear a classmate deliver a few words I didn't understand and all of a sudden I'd be questioning whether or not I deserved to be in such a high level class. Luckily, that uncertainty didn't last long, because I was lucky to have a teacher that assured me of my competence, and made me not only confident, but proud of my ability in English.

Sixth period. Sixth period was the best time of the day because that is when I knew I was walking into a class that I'd never be bored in. The discussion days were the best. We would be assigned a few chapters of a book to read for homework and then we would spend the entire following class discussing our thoughts. This was a class that I was never afraid to participate in.

You had a way of inspiring confidence in every single one of your students, regardless of if you agreed with our opinions or not. While I've had some English teachers that stick to a certain right and wrong when it comes to book analysis, you didn't do that. You acknowledged the fact that literature is art and it can be interpreted in infinite ways. You became genuinely excited and intrigued when someone stated an idea that you hadn't heard of before. You did make a point of ensuring that we eventually got to the essential themes and ideas of each novel, but you allowed us to do it mostly on our own. The class discussions would continue with you slowly giving us thoughtful responses, until someone correctly discovered the point that we were meant to grasp. You always responded to each of our ideas with encouraging words and excitement in your voice. I never once felt silly after giving my thoughts in your class, and that is so important.

I was never the best at paying attention in all of my classes, I'd often find myself caught in daydreams or enthralled in my newest doodle in the margin of my notebook. Yet, in your class I never once found myself losing attention. I found myself in other worlds, yes. I found myself in a world fueled by witch hunts ("The Crucible"), or in the disturbing world of the governess in "The Turn Of The Screw", but never in my own little world; your class was too good to miss.

You made us laugh. A lot. Not only were you a brilliant teacher, you were hilarious and never once did we leave your class in a bad mood. You gave us the most creative assignments that made us think above and beyond, and made us challenge ourselves and grow as writers and critical thinkers. You got to know each of your students on a personal level; you're a teacher who genuinely, really, really cared.

You told me I was insightful. You told me I had a real knack for deep thinking and grasping concepts far below the surface, and that is something that I have kept with me throughout all my years of college. You were so good at seeing the talent and potential in each of us, and you made sure that we saw it too. When I have felt frustrated, I remember your inspiring words of encouragement, and I am reassured. Thank you for not only being the best teacher that I've ever had, but for being one of my biggest inspirations. Most of all, thank you for being one of the biggest reasons that I still love to write.

Sincerely,

A former student