Dear Doctor Schumacher,
I could write a list of things to thank you for, but the list would just go on and on. You have by far, been the best teacher out there within my lifetime. Not only have you been my educator, but you have also been a guardian angel figure, a backbone and, lastly, a true friend.
I honestly couldn’t thank you more for all that you have done for me. You have been there for me through thick and thin. Essentially, you have stuck by my side throughout the entirety of my high school career. I remember being initially scared of what was to come in the relationship between us due to the fact that you were both my academic advisor, as well as my 10th and 11th grade science teacher. I thought to myself, who was this woman, and what was she all about? Did she want to see to see me sink, or was she honestly a great teacher that wanted to see me swim? I then soon came to realize that I had been granted with one of the best mentors in my life, and that you did in fact want to see me swim and fight through all the challenges that I face as a student.
Another thing that I couldn’t thank you more for was the fact that you made me have a larger sense of self. In the past, I was extremely insecure about my academic self. I didn’t think that I was smart at all and I didn’t see myself being able to thrive within the classroom. Something that stuck out to me while you were my teacher, was, that you would remind me each and every single day that I was in fact intelligent. You would sit me down through my several anxiety attacks, and remind me of all of the positive aspects in my life. It was nice having you as a support system and someone that I could call my “go-to person.”
My teachers in the past merely wanted me to just do the work that was assigned, hand it in and then forget about it. They focused, as I used to, on what the grade was rather than if the student was actually learning something once and for all. Once again, you were different in the right way. The letter grade was the cherry on top of what I like to call a learning sundae. One of your goals was to get the point across to your students on what was to be taken away from the lesson. For instance, knowing the actual meaning behind the periodic table, and what each of the elements stood for and their usage, was much more important to you than just merely memorizing them on a quiz. Another reason I would like to extend a large thank you. You are the main reason why I enjoy conceptualizing things in school rather than just memorizing them. Therefore, the concept becomes embedded into my mind, and I truly do understand in the foreseeable future what I had learned, rather than the information just temporarily residing there.
Overall I couldn’t have been more grateful to have a teacher like you. Dr. Schumacher, you are most definitely one of a kind. You are a caring, compassionate and understanding soul who clearly has a passion for teaching. You are also a strong individual from what you have shared with me, in many ways, and I commend as well as look up to you for all that you have gone through. Thank you again for being you, and I hope to stay in touch as much as possible over the course of my college career.
Love,
Ally.
