Dear Miss Davis,
I know you're frustrated. Every year the career path you chose becomes harder and harder to love. It becomes more restrictive and concentrated on testing that does not prepare students for their futures in the slightest. I know that it must be discouraging, to see so much potential wasted because you must train them to fill in bubble sheets to the best of their ability, all to please some state law makers who have probably not interacted, I mean really interacted, with teenagers since they were one.
I know that it's easy to dwell on that student who doesn't pay attention in class, that one who is too busy scrolling on Facebook to pay any mind to your lecture. It probably must make you feel terrible when another student dozes off in class, not even 10 minutes into the lecture. These young minds that you are supposed to be cultivating are incredibly resistant, and your job depends on their willingness to learn and participate. But that is not always possible. You cannot force someone to show interest. You cannot instill a desire to learn into someone unless that desire is already there.
That's why I want you to know that I appreciate you. I may not be majoring in biology, occupational therapy. I may not be pre-med, I may not have taken a biology class since my freshman year of college, but I still know the value of having a basic understanding of biology. I am grateful for my decision to have taken AP biology. I learned so much, and many of the concepts have stuck with me to this day.
I want you to know that you shouldn’t beat yourself up over the student who does not pay attention. The one who does poorly on a test because they repeatedly cut class. Every year you will encounter that student, and that is a discouraging fact of life. But there will always be young minds willing to learn, students aspiring to become doctors, physical therapists, researchers, and you are helping them along on their journey. They may not always come out and say it, but like me, they appreciate you too.
Thank you for everything,
Your former student
