Thank you.

When you signed your contract as a teacher, it never said you had to have a personal relationship with your students. It never said you had to put in many sleepless nights trying to come up with a lesson plan that all of your students would enjoy while understanding the curriculum as well. No one said you had to spend your weekends grading papers and writing sweet comments and a smiley face on each paper. But you did; you did all of these things and you always made sure your students knew someone cared about them.

So I thank you.

As a child, I never thought I would be in school obtaining a teaching degree, and I definitely never thought I would choose education as my career path for the rest of my life. When I first sat down and contemplated being a teacher, I thought about you. I thought about the way you taught lesson plans and helped us all understand something that seemed impossible to us as children. I thought about the way you showed love to your co-workers and your student's parents. But most importantly, I remembered the way you taught me life lessons and showed me love and compassion as you did this.

Thank you.

You taught me that teaching is more than standing in the front of a classroom and going over lesson plans. You taught me that teaching is more than watching children all day while their parents are at their separate jobs. You taught me that teaching is about getting up every morning and knowing you get the opportunity to teach a child something they could use for the rest of their lives. You taught me that teaching is about caring for children, especially the children that do not get shown this compassion at home. You taught me that teaching is about showing love so that your students may see this love through you.

I thank you.

As I think about why I chose my profession, the only person I can think of is you. Thank you for being an example of everything I wanted to be. Thank you for being a role model to me, whether you realized it or not. Thank you for teaching me skills I will need to be a successful professional. Most importantly, thank you for showing me just how amazing being a teacher is.

Thank you, from the future educator you influenced.