Dear Professor,
I lost hope in our education system some time ago; I didn’t have faith in my other professors, because to them I was just a number. Most professors barely knew my name, they didn’t take the time to learn about me at all. You, however were different. I could tell from the moment I sat down in your first class, that you would have a strong impact on my life.
You wanted to learn about each of your students, because you saw us as more than a filled seat in your classroom. You saw us as individuals; with different personalities, upbringings, dreams and ambitions. You learned about who we were outside of the classroom. You remembered little details about your students – who we were dating, our favorite television shows and what we wanted to do as a career.
You took the time to talk to your students one-on-one when they needed to, and allowed them to open up. Whenever I needed guidance from an adult, I knew I could turn to you and you were always there to listen. You didn’t demean me and my teenage problems, you tried to understand them from my point of view. When I did come to you, you gave me sound advice because you genuinely cared. You created a relationship with your students that far exceeded the typical teacher-student relationship. I felt like I had an older, wiser friend.
