Dear Teacher,

Thank you. I know you work in a system where teachers and students are not supposed to be friendly with one another but you’re somehow supposed to educate and impact their lives anyway, and yes that makes no sense at all. But you disregarded that norm, and in the process you not only became a friend to me during the year(s) I spent as your student but you also were able to teach me in ways a general lesson could not.

Simply put, I loved talking to you. You always leveled with me, and at that claustrophobic point in my life, I needed it more than ever. You were always open to talk about politics, that rude crossing guard, my younger sibling, literally anything. There were so many days when I would hang back after class to ask a question and end up missing an entire class period chatting it up, skip lunch with my friends just to hang out, and stay after school for tutoring but somehow end up on the topic of how much my mom was getting on my nerves the night before. You were right there with me on my good days and bad days, always there to listen. You helped me get through breakups, tough times with my family, schoolwork-induced anxiety, and even deciding on which college to attend. You wrote my college recommendation letter, helped to promote my project/club to your other students, and consistently offered your unwavering support.

I can’t express how much you helped me now that I’m in the real world. You didn’t baby me, and I appreciate that more than anything. I talk with my professors the same way I used to talk with you, in a mature and intelligent manner, and I can’t help but look at my classmates who don’t do this and wonder if they ever had a teacher like you. I hope they did. You also prepped me for talking with advisors, interviewers, and even my bosses in teaching me to accept mentorship and how to properly speak to my elders. Not that you’re elderly by any means, but I now know how to level with someone older and superior to me and that’s already proven to be working in my favor.

Now that I’ve graduated and life has made it more difficult to come visit you than I would have liked, I can only hope the very best for you. The future for the public school system isn’t looking so bright at the moment, but it’s teachers like you that motivate students like me. Continue to engage your students the way you engaged me. Help them to become good students and good people, stay open to their needs, make your classroom a safe haven, and be their shining light in the deep, dark, depressing pit that is high school. You may not have even realized you were doing this for me at the time because that’s just how amazing you are. But I will always remember, and for that I thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With love,