Mrs. Brown,

You are the sole reason I decided to go to college with the mindset of becoming an educator. I’ve always been passionate about learning, but it never made sense to me that I should be sharing my knowledge with others until I stepped foot into your class on the first day of my senior year.

I had always heard my classmates and peers explain how you were such an amazing teacher, and how most of them had kept a relationship with you since the class was supposed to have been taken two years prior to when I was able to. I walked into your class excited to learn, and excited to see you in action since I had heard so many amazing things about you. Needless to say, I wasn’t let down at all.

You lit up the room immensely when you spoke, anyone who hadn’t been paying attention at the time began to as soon as you introduced yourself to us, and from that point on, you were in charge. It always fascinated me how you could easily demand the attention of the room, and I promised myself I would be that type of teacher someday.

I was always so thankful that you let me be my complete self in your room. I was allowed to correct others when they were wrong about what side of Congress the Vice President belonged to (Senate, but he only does something in the event of a tie in a vote.), and you were there to support me and help me learn when I wasn’t as confident in my answers. You taught me that it’s okay to be wrong, or that it’s alright to stumble on a few things before I get to the end.

P-town Brown, I will never be able to fully express how much you mean to me. You have been such a blessing in my life that only God knew I needed. You have been my saving grace in so many situations and I find myself referring back to our hour-long conversations about life to find the answers to questions I have even now.

Your explanation on why people are so mean ("They’re just like that.") or what I should do when I work with someone I don’t like ("Girl, I know you don’t like them.. but just be civil, and it’ll be over soon. You’re better than that.") have sat in my brain and resonated with me more times than I’d care to admit.

You have been there for me when I just need to cry, which is also something I can’t thank you enough for. Sometimes, you can only be so strong, and having a safe haven within you that I knew I could crash land into if needed was more appreciated than you’ll ever understand.

Now that I've graduated, you've seen me move across the country and move back, you've watched me change my major and then change it again until I finally settled on, who would've guessed, a history teacher. You're slowly but surely teaching me how to yell "Go Pack!" instead of "Go Heels," and you're still one of the biggest supporters I have.

You have also been crucial to me finding my way back to God. I have always struggled with my relationship with Him, but you have always been there with verses or encouragement to help me get back in step. I don't think I'd be nearly as strong in my faith as I am now if it wasn't for you.

Once again, thank you for changing my life for the absolute better. Only God knows what I would have done without your guidance, not only on how to balance a checkbook and how to decide what branch of government we were discussing in class that day but about things that will be with me forever. I’m so thankful that so many other students will be touched by you as well.

I love you, and I'm so grateful that I have what you've taught me to transfer on to the next generation of learners. I can't wait to graduate and start teaching so, maybe, I can be half the teacher and mentor you are.