Dear Little Girl,

You were one of the students I had the pleasure of taking care of at the after school program I volunteered at during my junior and senior years of high school. You were always one of my favorite people to see. Helping you with homework and to ensure that you were writing neatly were true joys of my life. Your smile lit up my world. Seeing you three times a week made my life happy, hopeful and purposeful. On days that I had a tough day in school and debated whether I should come to after school or not, your face was always put in my mind, and when I was there, your smile changed my perspective on things. You embodied innocence and you gave me hope for the future.

At the end of my second semester of my freshman year of college, I debated whether to change my major. In this semester, I lost the person who was one of my biggest inspirations, and, to be honest, I couldn't give any more to anything. After facing this hurdle, I thought to myself, "If I really loved my field, I would not be giving up." After I realized this, I set out to change my major. The entire summer, I went back and forth and made the tough decision to make the switch from Science Education to Business Communication. It took a while, but I finally made peace with my decision. I even went as far as filling out the paper work. But something stopped me from handing it in.

As I was getting ready to return to school, I went through a box of stuff from freshman year. In the box, I found a little plastic medal. This little plastic medal is what you gave me on my last day of volunteer work at after school. As I found this medal in that bin of stuff, I realized I found my inspiration again... your smiling face. Finding this medal reminded me of why I ever wanted to teach in the first place, to make a difference. When you gave me this medal it signified that I made a difference in your life and therefore, you made a difference in mine.

So, right now I am here to say thank you. Thank you for smiling. Thank you for being such a good kid. Thank you for appreciating me. And most importantly, thank you for keeping me from making a huge mistake. Whenever I think I want to throw in the towel, I pull out your medal from my bag and think of your face and I am inspired to see this through. When I finally do become a teacher and my students ask me why I do what I do, I will say, "because of students like you."

Thank you,

Your helper