A Thank-you Letter to a Student I Hardly Remember

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Abstract

e face or name that still remains in my memory.All the same, please know that you are much appreciated, for your act of gratitude is one rare in university circles, and even rarer in our fast-paced modern world.You may not have imagined how, at the end of every semester, I kept postponing the reading of student evaluations, fearful of the negative ones. Even one student’s harsh judgment of my methods or my classes would drag me into the dumps. Other teachers would remind me that one or two were an exception and shouldn’t be considered representative. As humans, however, we are so vulnerable and so needy of acceptance.You apologized for using your mother tongue and not mine but admitted that you could express the feelings of your heart much better in Spanish. No need to apologize!You thanked me for EVERYTHING — and you put it in caps — I had given a

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nd shared that year, specifying: “your knowledge, your life philosophy, but above all your story and your heart.” You didn’t mention my teaching you some English, but surely that was included in my knowledge. It especially touches me that you realized that in my teaching, I longed to offer more than just another chunk of knowledge.You thanked me for opening my heart to the students on the last day of class, shortly before Christmas, when I offered you “delicious brownies” from my kitchen. You wished me a merry Christmas, with “great health and many hopes and dreams to accomplish.” I would love to know what dreams YOU have accomplished, maybe now a mother with kids and a busy career.Bless you, Diana. May you too touch other lives, and may you continue to express your gratitude to those who touch yours!Your English teacher,Margie</article></body>

After nineteen years

Dear Diana,

I just found your 2002 letter, 19 years old already. You addressed me as Maggie instead of Margie, but I will forgive you, especially because every word meant so much to me.

I don’t remember your face or anything about you, just that you were an English student of mine at the university. With hundreds of young people entering my life for a few short months over more than a couple of decades, it’s the rare face or name that still remains in my memory.

All the same, please know that you are much appreciated, for your act of gratitude is one rare in university circles, and even rarer in our fast-paced modern world.

You may not have imagined how, at the end of every semester, I kept postponing the reading of student evaluations, fearful of the negative ones. Even one student’s harsh judgment of my methods or my classes would drag me into the dumps. Other teachers would remind me that one or two were an exception and shouldn’t be considered representative. As humans, however, we are so vulnerable and so needy of acceptance.

You apologized for using your mother tongue and not mine but admitted that you could express the feelings of your heart much better in Spanish. No need to apologize!

You thanked me for EVERYTHING — and you put it in caps — I had given and shared that year, specifying: “your knowledge, your life philosophy, but above all your story and your heart.” You didn’t mention my teaching you some English, but surely that was included in my knowledge. It especially touches me that you realized that in my teaching, I longed to offer more than just another chunk of knowledge.

You thanked me for opening my heart to the students on the last day of class, shortly before Christmas, when I offered you “delicious brownies” from my kitchen. You wished me a merry Christmas, with “great health and many hopes and dreams to accomplish.” I would love to know what dreams YOU have accomplished, maybe now a mother with kids and a busy career.

Bless you, Diana. May you too touch other lives, and may you continue to express your gratitude to those who touch yours!

Your English teacher,

Margie