Dear you,

Yes, I have it within me to call you by name, but I won’t just because I know it could ruin you. So you’re welcome, really.

I can’t believe this upcoming October will be a year since you told me that I wasn’t cut out for teaching. You screwed up. You know why? Because here I am, writing this letter to you, as a recent recipient of a scholarship from the College of Education -- the same College of Education that allowed you to be my supervisor, so something doesn’t add up.

I am writing to you, though, to say thank you. You may get this often, but you don’t get it often from me. I want to say thank you for giving up on me and telling me that I am not fit to be a teacher.

Most people wouldn’t say thank you for this. I used to be one of them. However, as time has passed, I realized that you were the one that was in the wrong, and that I am now blossoming.

I needed time for myself, to get myself back on the right track with everything in life. You could’ve been nicer about it, but you weren’t and that’s okay, really because you’ve made me stronger. I still get teary-eyed when I talk about having to withdraw from school. I still get emotional whenever someone says something about the PDS program at Penn State because honestly, it wasn’t fair how dirty you played me.

You never gave me a choice in the matter of withdrawing. No one did and maybe I did need time for myself, but you could’ve actually said something about it, maybe in a nicer way. Life gets hard for people sometimes, and it’s not anyone’s fault. But you made my life harder than it needed to be. You were wrong.

I’m trying to look on the bright side now, though. Without having you in my life, I never would’ve found my friends that I met this past spring in my block classes; I never would’ve met some of the nicest instructors the university has to offer; I never would’ve found out how to take care of myself better; my summer now would be so much different than had I stayed in school that semester. I never would’ve met my new mentor teacher, who, honestly, is more understanding of my life than you will ever be; in fact, she probably has more sympathy in her big toe than you have in your entire body.

But whatever.

Thank you. Because without you, I wouldn’t be who I am today. In the words of the famous John Mayer, “You’re no one ‘til someone lets you down.”

Sincerely,

Sydney