I am lucky.

I don't consider myself a lucky person; I drew the short straw literally, with my height, with my troubles trying to grasp mathematics, with my poor eyesight, even. I can't draw, I can't dance, I can't act. I am lazy, I procrastinate, I make excuses. I am far from a Type A student. So I never considered myself lucky until I came across a science teacher who changed that viewpoint.

I am lucky. I am lucky because I got to call you my science teacher for three out of four years of my high school duration. I am lucky because you are kind and concerned and eager to teach, but also to learn.

I am lucky to have acquired a biology, AP Environmental, and anatomy teacher all in one. Throughout the years it has been surreal watching him lecture and demonstrate and explain because he is so knowledgeable in so many areas of science. He takes teaching outside of the classroom, from camping trips to planting strawberries in our school's garden.

I am lucky to have a teacher who cares enough to ask what our learning styles are and accommodate his lessons to fit his class. I am lucky to have a teacher who cares enough to ask me if I'm okay when my head is down rather than write me up for detention. I am lucky that he sees us as more than a paycheck, a menial job, a burden. I am lucky to have a teacher who is beyond passionate about what he teaches. You can hear it in his voice, see it in his demeanor, sense it in the atmosphere of his classrooms. His eagerness radiates and brushes off on his students, making us all enthusiastic to learn.

I am lucky. I may not be mathematically inclined, or over five feet tall, but I am lucky because I've had a teacher who treats us like his own and goes above and beyond what is specified in the teacher's contract. He strives to make his students as ready to learn about science as he is and he isn't afraid to make mistakes; he learns from them.

He is truly a beam of light in everyone's life. If you know him, you know that his spirit is unforgettable and I will cherish him everyday of the last year of high school that I have him.

I am lucky to call you a teacher and an example of the type of person I want to be when I get older. I will never forget what you've taught me, both about science and about being a kind soul to people, plants, and animals.

Thank you, HB.