This article is especially dedicated to Mr. Unterstein, "Mr. U," of Middletown High School North. Thank you for not only being an amazing teacher, but also for being open ears, an open mind, and an open classroom when we had nowhere to eat for lunch.

Dear Teachers (And by that, I mean All Teachers. New Teachers, Old Teachers, Retired Teachers, Teachers That Aren't Teachers Yet),

In deciding on what course of study I wanted to follow in college, and where that course of study would take me, I did what all future college kids do; I listed all of the things I thought I would be interested in, or good at. This list consisted of things like Writing, Psychology, Communications, Sociology, Philosophy, and a few other things that would probably fall under the "humanities" category. When I rattled this list off to people who asked, they always had one question for me: "What about teaching?"

Now, I sometimes had considered teaching, mostly for the fact that I would get the whole summer off from work, but had never put any further consideration into it than that. It's not that I didn't think that I would be good at it, because I think I would, and I've been told that I would. The truth is that I could never be a teacher because the best teachers are the ones who have an undying love for teaching (in the same way I have an undying passion for writing, which is my major by the way).

Thinking back on all of the teachers I've had in the past, I could list all of my favorite ones right off the top of my head, without hesitation. Thinking further into it, all of my favorite teachers all taught different subjects, were from different grades, and had different styles in the classroom. They all, however, did have one thing in common: they truly, truly loved what they did.

I seriously have an admiration, and deep respect for teachers. They are shaping the minds of the future and changing lives on a daily basis, which I think is incredible. I know how hard teaching can be: how the kids can be mean, and the grading workload can be unbearable, and you have to continue to learn things as you teach them. The education system is a constantly changing entity, and teachers have to adapt with it (which, while they may have had a hard, I've only ever seen my teachers do successfully).

In all my years of education, I have watched paths be paved, and have had paths paved for me by all of my teachers. I may not exactly remember how to graph a polynomial, or what types of animals live in the Taiga Biome, or the importance of the symbolism of quilts in that one book we read for class, but what I do remember is the life lessons I learned from my teachers about responsibility, bravery, decision-making, respect, and compassion.

So, whether you're new, or you've been teaching for years, or you used to teach, or you're soon to be a teacher, thank you so much for doing what you do. You have had a positive impact on this world like no other.