Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I Just Wrote to Say "Thank You"

In high school I had a teacher that made a very strong impact on me. I have thought of her often over the years. I won't bore you with how or why she impacted me, but after much thought, I decided I should thank her.  With gross overcrowding in public schools, teachers often feel like babysitters, and it can be hard to get through to kids when your classroom is a circus not of your doing.

I know if I were a teacher, I would want to know if I made a difference. This woman impacted the woman I am today. I found her through the magic of social media and I wrote her a letter. It wasn't as eloquent as the one I planned in my head at 3 a.m. but I hit "send" anyway. I nervously and anxiously waited to see if she would respond.

She did! And she said very nice things. And despite our roles from close to 15 years ago, she wrote to me woman-to-woman. She was very pleased to hear from me and said she'd treasure my letter. I am really glad I sent it.

Sometimes I think our first instinct is to complain about stuff, but really, taking the time to compliment or speak of good things is what we should be doing. I felt good sending it and I felt even better knowing it made someone else feel good.

4 comments:

Carrie said...

I love this. I have been trying to do one nice thing every day, though usually its just a short email or having lunch with someone I haven't connected with in a while. Its fun, and both inspiring and challenging. Good for you for hitting send!

The Trotter Family said...

Now I am curious which teacher it was. I don't think I have one teacher that really impacted me in that way. I had some cool teachers, but not life changing.

Rene Vega said...

So, which teacher??? I'm curious, too! I had good ones in HS, but a couple of the teachers at college TOTALLY helped me become the person I am. I should write them a note, too!

Open and Shut Case said...

The teacher was R.an.di S.a.x. and she was amazing for my self-esteem.