Dear M.A.R
Thank you. As I ponder how I want to start this letter, each thesis I write down blows away with a new thought. Your standard of excellence, years later, has reminded me that good is never enough, if better is possible. I feared that my entry wouldn’t convey the admiration I’ve grown for you; nor, would my thesis twinkle in your eye. I laugh to myself as nostalgic thoughts remind me of your meticulous eye watching each word morph into sentences. You cautiously watch my thoughts grow as one watches their child’s first steps. Even that image falls short of the care you’ve shown to me as your student. As you can see, I decided to start with two words. Two words that form a sentence; words, I hope, expresses my gratitude. Growing up in New Orleans taught me to cherish everything. I appreciate the breezes at night, I cherish the hot plates of food, and I thank God for loved ones. In New Orleans, everything is ephemeral. Life is ephemeral. Everything I experience within my life is a manifestation of God’s goodness and mercy. What do I have that His providence hasn’t brought into my life? To consider a coincidence robs Him of His sovereignty. And, now, years later, your influence still refines me. I write this letter as a sign of my gratitude for you and an acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty in allowing our paths to cross.
Life is ephemeral.
When I tell you thank you it carries a double meaning. First, my thank you means: thank you for sacrificing your time. Second, my thank you means: thank you for dedicating your life to teach. There are few teachers who teach with the sole purpose of edifying the pupil. In Amerika, however, the norm for teaching isn’t empathic. Most people teach because it forces others to listen to them. People teach because they develop delusions of grandeur, and teaching allows their ego to ripen with the esteem of publishing a book or receiving tenure. In contrast, you have proven-- in action!-- that your main priority is ensuring the student’s ability to grasp and utilize what you teach, more than if they can pass a test and leave a good review. Your dedication requires a sacrifice of prestige and time. Yes, we all have dreams we wish to accomplish for ourselves. But, I believe, people, like yourself, whose dream it is to help others reach their dreams are an anomaly. This can only happen when a person sacrifices their own dream, time, and fame on the altar of love. Your sacrifice produced many fruits. I ate the fruit of your labor and grew like Jack’s Beanstalk. When I say thank you for your time, I mean exactly that. I am not referring to your office hours. I am referring to the time you spent over hour-long conversations as you offered constructive feedback for my writing. I don’t recall having to reschedule a meeting because of any vicissitudes on your behalf. You prioritized me and from that, I experienced a kind of love that if emulated can change the world. Even long after graduation, you made time and gave me a new lens in which to examine the world. You taught me how to fly intellectually, and now I effortlessly soar like Michael Jordan through the air.
You prioritized me and from that, I experienced a kind of love that if emulated can change the world.
Not only am I grateful for you as a person, but I am grateful for the hope you’ve brought into my life. In my past experiences, my teachers would talk at me rather than talk to me. I would be patronized and reduced and eventually shrugged off. Whereas, when I was with you, you chose to interact with me differently by reminding me of my humanity. Thus, becoming a buoyancy of hope for all who swam in the waters of despair. Dr. King’s elocution about the boundlessness of love reaches a new meaning once it culminates into a personal experience. The most surprising thing about you is the place where I found you. If I had to go on an Easter egg hunt for love and diversity, I would expect to find it in the religious building. If not there, I would go to those who share the same ideas as me. If not found there, I would go to family and friends. And, if love hid in those places, only despair would be found. But, for 4 years I was oblivious to your existence. You are a palpable expression of what the preachers preach, the orators speak, and what Amerika has attempted to accomplish since its birth--altruism. The world has yet to learn how to embrace diversity, when will you teach them?
Dr. King’s elocution about the boundlessness of love reaches a new meaning once it culminates into a personal experience.
I couldn’t understand if God brought me to you or you to me. Irrespective of the purpose, I had to wait until my last class in college to meet you. In our world, unfortunately, only people who influence millions of people at a time are gifted with adulation and awards. Those people set the moral and intellectual temperature for Amerika, they, solely, are prized as the heroes and heroines of history. But, daily, people like yourself burn the midnight oil to ensure the temperature never rises or falls and remains just right. I can only dream like Dr. King how the world would look if everyone had a teacher like you. You once told me, “One of the purposes of education is to enhance our capacities for empathy.” Empathy is sparked by love. Education teaches us how to administer that love to all. I pray that the roots of the fruits within the seeds that you share, sink deep into the hearts and minds of all you teach.
“You can teach what you know, but you can reproduce only what you are.”
