To my high school teachers:

Most students, upon their departures from High School, are so excited for the next stages that await them. Other than leaving their best friends behind, they don’t often think about missing teachers and administrators who have guided their paths.

I’m sure many are thrilled to leave and never look back, but I, on the other hand, had developed so many special and unique relationships with teachers, coaches, and faculty, I didn’t realize how much I would actually miss them.

Many have played pivotal roles with their guidance and support of me throughout the years, and probably more emotionally than academically.

I wish I prepared myself for their immediate absence from my daily life.

Hands down, each of them in their own way have paved the way for me to become a successful college student. Whether it was assigning me pages of outlining to prepare me for the college workload, challenging me with difficult grading policies, or encouraging me to advocate for myself, I will be forever thankful.

I am sure I have cursed or bit***ed many times under my breath when things got tough, but two months into my freshman year in college now, I totally understand why. At least now when I have to outline over 30 pages a night I can feasibly do so thanks to APUSH!

Thank you for instilling in me good work habits, as well as teaching me coursework that I am now relearning in some of my college classes.

And thanks for encouraging me to keep an organized tablet, so that the flash drive I copied my entire Tablet onto before I turned it back in is a great reference now!

Learning about basic business skills and management in Accounting and Business Law (Mrs. H.) helped to set such a strong foundation for what I’m studying now – so thank you.

And having read and dissected The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 11^th grade AP English (Mr. M.) is beyond helpful since it’s now just a re-read in my writing class.

Being able to say, “Oh, I learned this in high school,” makes your peers somewhat envious of you, but for me it just makes me smile thinking about who originally taught it to me.

I was fortunate enough to create everlasting bonds with some high school teachers, and I can only say “thank you” for that.

If it weren’t for these relationships, who would have edited my resume thousands of times?

Who would have kept me sane with all of the trials and tribulations I encountered over the years, both socially and academically?

And who would I be talking to now – hundreds of miles away in college still counting on you guys?

Sitting in a college lecture is way different than a high school class. The chances that your professor knows your name let alone your history, reputation, friends, extracurricular interests, sibling lineage etc. are slim to none.

The professors don’t hold our hands writing down our homework assignments on the board – we’re just expected to read those lengthy syllabuses that we hastily signed on the first days of school.

These are the days that I wish Mr. R would embarrass me in the middle of class or say something silly that only the two of us know about as I pass him in the hallway. These are the days that I wish my coach would set out demands she wanted of the team, that I probably dreaded then, but would cherish the care and concern of today.

These are the days that I wish I could just walk into the English department knowing that anyone there would be able to help me out with something, even if they weren’t my teacher. And more often than not, just barging into any department just to chat and BS.

I miss walking through the halls of the high school and having some of them extend their sarcasm making me laugh.

I miss the comfort of the relationships I so greatly value even today.

No matter where life takes me, I will forever be appreciative and grateful to the faculty of Hewlett High School. I miss you all very much, and once again, thank you for everything.

Love,

Lindsay Cohn