<p>I got the idea for this thread from one of the posts in the ?I need to get this off of my chest? thread. We all have people in our lives helping us in countless ways. Why don’t we now take the time to thank them? I’ll start.</p>
<p>Dear instructor at my university,</p>
<p>You are phenomenal. During my first two years at this university, you have helped me in many respects. Here are a few of them:</p>
<p>1.) You burnt a CD for me (with songs in Spanish on it) to help me with my listening abilities. (By the way, you also have excellent taste in music.)
2.) You were willing to help me with my writing last summer by letting me write passages in Spanish and send them to you via e-mail. You would then correct them, send them back to me, and field any questions that I had. (You didn?t have to do that. All of this took place during your break while you were at home in Spain.)
3.) I had you as a teacher during my first year at this university. However, this year, you were not teaching the courses that I needed to take, and as a result, I was no longer your charge. (Technically, I was no longer your charge the moment I finished taking the final exam for your class.) However, you made yourself available to me by saying that I could come to you whenever I needed help. I gladly took you up on your offer, and I now feel like I know an adult (Well, an adult who is not between the ages of 18 and 24) in whom I can confide at this university.
4.) You made learning a second language more like playing a game than actually learning. As a result, I am now majoring in a language that I almost decided to not even take at this university. (My high school Spanish program was okay, but it wasn?t great. When I entered my university as a freshman, I was almost sick of learning the language.)</p>
<p>During my life, I?ve had several teachers who I really liked. However, I believe that you are the best out of all of them. None of my other teachers have gone out of their way to help me as much as you. You’ve acted as a mentor, teacher, and friend.</p>
<p>reeses, what a great thread and what a great letter. I hope you will send that prof a version of what you just posted, if you haven’t already. I guarantee it will make his (her?) day.</p>
<p>So I was curious…I’m the one who posted the point on the “say it here…” thread about how everyone loves to gripe and yet we don’t take the same opportunity to thank. There has been 1 response to this thread and 165 to the other. What does that say about our society today?</p>
<p>I realize that sometimes out children do get overlooked, do not get the reconition we believe they deserve, and they are certainly the most incredibly intelligent child(ren) God ever put on the face of the Earth, (just ask, we’ll tell you so) but really, are there not more positives than negatives?</p>
<p>I could literally count hundreds of positive happenings for each perceived slight my child(ren) have endured. Were their teachers perfect? Certainly not, but my children were not perfect either, as hard as that may be for some of us to admit. Were mistakes in judgement made? Absolutely. Were they made maliciously? I cannot believe they were; I cannot let myself believe that those who choose to lead their professional lives as educators would maliciously make mistakes when it comes to the students they teach.</p>
<p>So, to all who have had a hand in shaping the children you helped me raise, I say thank you. Even when we did not agree, we did so out of what we thought was best for the child in question. Sometimes you were right, sometimes I was, in some cases it’s too early to tell, but I do believe that the decisions were made with best interests at heart. Some of you have become lifelong friends; some of you I will have a very difficult time saying goodbye to at the end of this school year when my youngest child graduates and leaves for the incredible journey she has chosen for herself. You are certainly a large part of the reason she has the ability, drive, desire and knowledge to take the road she has chosen. </p>
<p>Parents and teachers must work together if a child’s true potential is to be reached. And, in closing, if one is having a difficult time celebrating the accomplishments of others, is it truly because the other child is undeserving or could it simply be a case of the green-eyed monster rearing his ugly head? I have had to take a good hard look at that question myself, and sometimes I have not liked the answer.</p>
<p>Reeses - what a wonderful idea for a thread.</p>
<p>I thank both of my kids for being exactly who they are - and for the directions they take in life - both are the type that really reach out and help. They in return - have thanked me many times over - for helping to get them there. :)</p>
<p>PS - I love your letter to the prof - I am sure they will really appreciate seeing it.</p>
<p>Thank you Mrs. F for fighting the principal and getting Mathson accelerated two grades ahead in math and to Mrs. C who coordinated with Mrs. F so that my little six year old enjoyed the experience and didn’t miss anything in his first grade class. Thank you Mrs. L who let Mathson do computer programming projects in third grade and told him to document his code! I bet you had no idea what you set in motion. Thank you Mr. K for running MathCounts in middle school. </p>
<p>Thanks to Mrs. S who got Mathson’s brother and the entire 4th grade class excited about poetry. I loved your story about how the entire class was convinced that somehow The Raven had a happy ending. Thank you Mr. O for getting my son so excited about orchestra.</p>
<p>Thank you Prof Ya----- for taking such an interest in my oldest son, encouraging and enjoying him. I had you myself 25 years ago and at that time I hated you and thought you were arrogant and too tough on grading. Now you are soft and caring and available and gave my verbose and chatty son someone to relate with. I’m sorry he didn’t stay at your college but you made a difference for him while he was there. And I CAN’T BELIEVE that while you chatted with him, you actually remembered me, too. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I’d like to thank a couple childhood neighbors of mine–Mr. S and Mrs. D
who were like 2nd parents to me. I came from a big family and one of my brothers was severely handicapped and needed a lot of my parents’ time.
My dad taught us how to work, but he wasn’t much for fun or recreational activities. Mr. S. used to take us on bike rides, to the movies, for ice cream, sledding, to his lab at the local college–he was an engineering professor. He was a mentor to 2 of my brothers who both worked for him after he started his own company and he helped launch their engineering careers (his own 3 sons weren’t interested in engineering). Mrs. D.–well, my sisters and I practically lived at her house. We thought of her as an overprotective mother–she wouldn’t let her kids go hatless in the winter, go barefoot in the summer, play in thunderstorms, or eat stuff that had fallen on the ground. . .and our mom “let” us do all these things. She put up with us and tried to teach us manners. I was in my 30’s before I realized with some shame that they probably pitied us and were trying to help out my parents. To them we were probably a tribe of unkempt, somewhat neglected kids. And they were good neighbors. I doubt they even think about what they did–it wasn’t anything huge or special, but they did make a difference in our lives. God bless all good neighbors everywhere!</p>
<p>If that professor is not the department head, I would cc the department head.</p>
<p>It is good when one’s boss gets wind of these sorts of sincere and substantive compliments!!</p>
<p>One thing I have done more of this year is to expressly thank people for the things I’m grateful for… I am trying to write more letters and notes because people love getting them. It really feels good to put my gratitude into words. So nobody is unthanked at the moment, except:</p>
<p>Thank you to all the authors of the books and poems that I read and read and read-- your words enrich my life and move me.</p>
<p>Thanks to my parents for making volunteering a normal, expected thing to do.</p>
<p>Thanks to my neighbors for being there with a cup of sugar or a shoulder to cry on and telling us about the college search 6 years ago. Oh, and thanks for your dog, who thinks our house is home #2.</p>
<p>Thanks to the UPS man who throws biscuits to the dogs, sometimes just as he’s driving by!</p>
<p>Kathiep - cute about the UPS man - ours does the same and so does the US mail lady :)</p>
<p>We had a terrible tragidy happen during my gals junior year - she had some amazing teachers and GC at the time (and a couple not so amazing as well). Because of her teachers incredible support and caring - my gal was able to manage to get thru - I thank them from the bottom of my heart for all the did for her to support her and to understand - thay really made an incredible difference in her life. My gal still stays in touch with a couple of them :)</p>