I am deciding to write a letter to reflect not just on my senior year but for high school as a whole and even just school. For me, going to high school was a significant shift for me from first being homeschooled from grades 2nd through 6th and then going to a public school in 7th and then a tiny charter school for 8th. Going to Millbrook high school was the first time I stayed at a school for 4 consistent years. Educationally, Millbrook was great for me because I was able to select and explore a lot of my interested, except for in the realm of art and literature. At least not until my junior and senior year where I got to join IB and the English classes finally introduced me to literature and benefited my writing ability exponentially. This is partially what I want to reflect on about school, until these last two years, my ability to write wasn't just limited by my dyslexia but rather than writing in a school setting the teaching is limited to a method that rather than learning to convey something, we learn to match a structure and length. IB is the only thing that has truly furthered me and I wish the approach to writing that IB (or maybe just my awesome teachers) takes should be something present in every grade level. I am not saying that a change in the curriculum would in any way help my own issues regarding school, but I do believe that the current approach to education that is taken by many public schools is ineffective. Of course, that is just me getting my opinion out there, but I feel that it explains to a certain extent my animosity towards school. My negative mindset towards school kept me from further involving myself in Millbrook, something which I think might have benefited my work ethic. My ability to get things done is influenced by a lot of things so I can not put the blame solely on the structure of school, especially since I didn't take part in it for a large portion of my childhood. Looking back on high school the one thing I wish I had done differently was turned in every assignment, no matter whether it was complete or not, just getting in what I was able to do. Sadly I can not go back in time to change how I acted then, and now those bad habit I built up are still affecting me, but I can say that I’ve been able to find more intrinsic motivation for getting things done.
A lot of this motivation has come from you Mrs. Genseky, along with my other awesome teachers. Particularly, in regards to your class, I feel that my ability to communicate my point has improved quite a bit, although not always demonstrated in my writing, the discussions we have in class are when I feel that I can demonstrate my understanding of the text and literature in general. The motivation I talked about comes from the feeling of understanding the material for me, rather than completing things. While I know being able to complete things is important, I can not do that without motivation, and your understanding and helping personality has allowed me to work on those skills while maintaining my level of motivation about the subject. I’m very glad that I had you both my junior and senior year, and that you continued to maintain a higher expectation level for me, which although I do not often meet it, the rewarding feeling I get from being able to do it when I am able to has helped me get through these last two years of high school.
Now as I write you this morning, I am nearing the end of my four years here at Millbrook, and the end of this letter, I think of the call to action from Whitman’s work, and I think of how I will respond to that call from him and you. In regards to your classes, I can tell you that my goal is never to stop reading and thinking, although my ideas and interpretations can be odd, I think it is important for the world to have people like me, that despite challenges and criticisms, I push through to prove myself to others as well as to myself. Concepts and beliefs always have come from those who think differently, and so I want to be able to go past the expectations of society and live my own life. I am not sure whether that means I will be a writer (with a really good editor), or an artist, or a doctor, but all these passions I hold will turn into something that I want to use to change peoples lives for the better. That change can be simply a smile or a new idea brought to mind, but it is what I am going forth into the world to accomplish. Although I feel that I have not completely demonstrated this to you in my years in your class, I hope that my future will make you proud and show to you the positive impact that having you as a teacher has had on me.
Thanks for being my teacher,
Mae
