School. It is where we first begin to develop who we are as a person outside of our family. It is where we begin to explore new ideas and experience new people on a daily basis. It is the next stepping stone in growing up, and many times our school experience can be influenced by the people we are surrounded by, especially our teachers. Your teacher is the first person you look up to that has an influence on you after your parents. They become your life line through your education and for me, they allowed me to fall in love with my education. So here is my thank you to those who deserve it the most, the teachers that don't get enough credit, the ones that reminded me why I needed to try to succeed, the ones that never lost hope in me.

Thank you for being there in my crucial years of trying to figure out what being unique was like. I was always so concerned with fitting into the crowd, but who wasn't in 5th and 6th grade. It was the years that we all began to change. We were no longer little kids anymore that could go to school in our colorful tutu and no one would question you. We were at the age that other people's opinions began to influence our actions, but you stopped that from happening. You reassured us that being our own individual was more important than any one else's opinion. You taught me to love myself for who I am, and that is more important than any other lesson you taught me.

Thank you to freshman year of high school for lighting the fire under me. I remember sitting in Global wondering why I cared for anything I was learning. It was one of those moments that you begin to question why you cared for things just because someone told you that you were supposed to care. Up to this point I was going through the motions of what school told me to do, read what you are supposed to read, do your homework, and study to get a good grade. But, something changed. You changed that for me. You explained to me that school is not about getting a good grade. It is something so much more. Yes, you might be learning about the Roman Empire because it is included in state regulation, but it is what we do with the information we learn in school that counts. I began to look at school as a place that was going to build the next generation. I began to take interest in all that I was learning. It no longer was just information that I needed for a test. It was information that I needed for a lifetime.

Thank you to sophomore year of high school for helping me find my passion. I had now reached a point in my life where I was comfortable with who I was, I cared about all that I was doing, but something seemed to be missing until you sparked that question in me one day. I sat in your class questioning what I wanted to do with my life, and you gave me that answer. You supplied me with faith. Not just faith in God, but faith in myself and my abilities. Yes, I knew that no one could bring me down and that I was being supplied with the information I needed to succeed, but for some reason I could not see myself actually being able to accomplish the things I wanted. You changed that for me. You gave me that push to reach for the stars, and I haven't stopped since.

Teachers are the backbone to society. They are the people that shape us into who we are today. They are the ones that prepare us for the life we have ahead of us. They are the ones that are there for us through all the awkward and inspiring stages of life, and honestly they don't get enough credit for all that they do. Thank you for the influence you had on me because I know I would not be the person I am today without your guidance.

"A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart" - Author Unknown