To the most beautiful woman I know, to the greatest writer I know, and to the greatest teacher I’ve ever had in 17 years of school, thank for doing such a thankless job. Day in and day out, you go through unimaginable things to do the job that you do. Not only do you do a wonderful job in school, but you carry your compassion home and you’re a wonderful runner, writer and not to mention mom as well (and I am eternally jealous of your kids). I don’t know how you have enough time to juggle it all in a 24 hour day, but you do, and you rock at it.

We all know that the salary is low and the expectations are high. You are expected to teach hundreds of kids about literature and grammar when all they can think about is the opposite sex and what their mom is cooking for dinner. You are there earlier in the morning than you want to be, and you stay later than you have to just because it makes that much of a difference. Everything you have done for me has changed my life forever, and for that I am eternally grateful.

You were my English teacher. You made me write even when I didn’t want to, about things that I didn’t want to. You made me write draft after draft until everything was done how it should be. However, through the daunting tasks, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. You made me fall in love with writers such as Sylvia Plath and Ernest Hemingway. You opened up a door to endless literature and you made me realize that I was actually a talented writer. However, the gifts you have given me don’t stop there. In my junior year of high school, you made us write a letter to our 21-year-old selves. I received mine in the mail today, and it writes: “I hope you have found a career that changes lives. I hope that you are in love with what you have chosen. I hope that something will come by in the next four years and you are able to look at it and know that that is what you want, because at this point in life I have no clue.” Little did I know at 16 that I looked at what I wanted to do every single day for two years straight. Because of you, I have chosen to follow in your footsteps and become a high school English teacher. I hope every day that I am able to be half of the teacher that you are. Although you may not have caught every ear that has ever heard you, you definitely caught mine.

Everybody has “the teacher” that they met that has impacted them the most. You are 100 percent mine, and when I say that you changed my life, I don’t say it how everybody else does. I don’t say it because you’ve said a few inspirational lines, or you were the fun teacher. I say that you changed my life because you were there for me through my good days and my bad days. You were my shoulder to cry on, and my person to laugh with. Although you were known as the “fun teacher,” sometimes you weren’t so fun but only because of how much you cared. You never allowed me to feel sorry for myself because of life's tribulations. You picked me up when I was down and taught me to write about what hurts. Most importantly, you are the role model in my life and the ideal picture of a teacher and a human that I want to be.

I just want to thank you. Thank you for the countless hours put into my education. Thank you for opening my eyes to brilliant writers. Thank you for keeping me laughing when the days were hard. Thank you for making me feel special in a school with 400 kids. Thank you for being a wonderful role model in my life. Lastly, thank you for always leaving your classroom door open.

You have had hundreds of students. I am not alone when I say how much I love you. However, please know that despite all the ears that you failed to reach out to, you reached my heart and changed my life. I hope that everybody that knows you knows how blessed they are and holds you dearly, because everybody in life should have an Emily Morrison.