Dear High School Teachers (all of you),
I have taken it upon myself to write this letter because I am almost done with my college career. It was you, collectively, who influenced my career choice. It was you that had the most impact on me. Some of you believed in me. Some of you didn't. It was each and every one of you however, that influenced my decision to attend college. I wanted to further my education, to better myself, and dive deeper into education.
I'm going to start with those bad teachers I had. I understand that we're all human. We all make mistakes. We all don't necessarily like all of our students. I get it, adolescent children are hard to deal with. Luckily for me, there was only a small handful of you that I actually set out to prove wrong. I set out to show you that I can be the best student I can be. I set out to graduate college with a good standing GPA and land a job. I'm almost there, I've got two semesters left. I'm not going to go into detail but I would like to thank you for fueling my determination, for fueling my fire. I'm proving you wrong. I had a lot of very excellent English teachers. BUT, there was one in particular that didn't like me. He wasn't exactly my favorite, he wasn't really anyone's favorite. He made me feel like a bad student. I wasn't a good English student, you say? Well, I'm about to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in English, so take that. It is you who made me want to be better and I've thrived. I thank you for that.
I have had so many more who really inspired me. I'll never forget my tenth grade AP Language teacher, Mrs. Thomas. SHe was probably one of the best teachers I have ever had. She really helped coach and train us in the material that was so far above and beyond what we had ever experienced before. She made us breakfast sometimes as we discussed literature and she gave back to the school community. I'll never forget her lasting impact in my school career and I hope that I can one day be as impactful as she was to me. My AP Gov and AP World teacher, Mr. Myers was another teacher that really impacted the way I think. There has been times in some of my education classes where we all shared certain activities we did when we were in school that we will never forget. Mr. Myers' class came up every single time. We did so many different government simulations, maps, games, activities, and even different note taking strategies that really shaped the way I think. I wasn't necessarily the highest scoring test taker in the class- let's face it a lot of the kids in my classes went Ivy League, but I did thrive. Here is my thank you to him- I'll never forget the time I had in his class. I'll never forget how much it challenged me as a thinker. I'll never forget my biology teacher, Mrs. Dunbar. She was the most accepting, entertaining teacher I have ever had. Students would talk to her about anything and she always made class so interesting. This I have learned is important for teachers to do too. It is one thing to be a good teacher and present the content in a way that is easy for the students to understand. It is another to be one that students can turn to, they need that.
What I struggle with the most when I think back on high school is my maturity level- I wish that my teachers didn't have to remember me as a loud mouthed, scrawny sixteen year old girl. This letter is my mature, adult tribute to all of them. I want them to see how far I have come. I thank them for contributing to my journey to getting my Bachelor's and eventually my master's.
There are many more who have changed my life and my journey on the way, but here's a thank you to my high school teachers. I'm doing pretty well because of you.
