Hey Old Friend,

First off, I would like to just start out by saying, “Thank you.” Thank you so much for sitting next to the weird, nerdy, sarcastic girl in the back of the class. I never asked you to do that, but you did anyway and you will never know how much your support meant to me during our time together. While we may have only talked in class or texted about homework assignments, the fact that you chose to sit next to me, genuinely conversed with me, and never moved seats made me feel loved at times during my life when I needed to feel loved. Whether it was in eighth grade math when I didn’t fit in, high school Latin and geometry when I was at my prime level of awkwardness, undergraduate courses when I was struggling with my fresh start of college and exploring my purpose in life, or even my current doctorate-level physical therapy classes where everything seems to be falling apart as real adulthood is upon me, you are one of the reasons that I have never given up and I have continued on with my academic career. You are a component of my success and for that I will be forever grateful.

Thank you for the small talk turned deep. Getting to know you in the back of the classroom while the teacher was lecturing at the front of the class will forever be some of my favorite memories of the two of us. We started out as strangers, making small comments here and there and then, somewhere along the way, we starting learning about each other and sharing inside jokes about what we observed from the back of the classroom. We became friends. This is what made class tolerable. You are what made class tolerable. The best moments were the ones where we struggled together academically. I would ask if you had started studying for the upcoming test and even if you had you always answered, “Of course not,” just to make me feel better, thank you for that. When something was taught in class that I did not understand, you would look at me with the same confused look on your face and I felt so much more at ease. You didn’t have to do any of these things, but you did.

Overall, thank you for being my lifeline even if you didn’t know that you were. When I would sit in the back of the class because my dark past made me more comfortable here, you made me feel normal and even more practical for sitting in the back of the classroom. You asked the teacher the questions that I was too afraid to ask, and always built me up when I was feeling down. Thank you for being everything that I could ask for and more. Know that even if we do not talk anymore that I will always treasure the time that we spent together. I know that you are out there doing great things, helping someone else along the way and keeping them afloat just like you did for me. Wherever you are, you are a rock star. I can only hope that I helped you as much as you helped me. Thank you for always sticking by me, literally, when it felt like I was alone in the back of class and life.

Love always,

The Girl in the Back of the Class