At the end of each semester, I receive Thank You notes from students. Here are a couple that just arrived. You can see why it’s hard for me to think about retirement when I’m teaching students like these.
Professor Kelley
I’m not sure if you will even remember me but I took an online INVESTMENTS class with you. Now that I am graduating and looking back at both my education and experiences at Erie Community College, I just wanted to let you know how much your class impacted my life. For me, it was not just about earning a credit for a class to earn my degree but it really changed the way I view my life from a financial standpoint and that your class changed the choices I made.
There is no amount of thanks I can say for helping me and my family shape into better individuals. I will not forget you, your class, or what I learned from you.
With great thanks,
(name withheld)
And then there’s this one from a student who emigrated from Yemen:
Dr. Kelley,
Thank you for being an excellent educator! A teacher like you is not easy to find.
I appreciate your time, your ability to make a dry subject interesting, and your smile ;-).
Have a great Summer!
(name withheld)
Nice, really nice.
Every once in a while Jackie meets a former student who tells her she was their all-time favorite teacher, even though it was second grade. It means a lot to her too.
You may have helped create the next Warren Buffett!
Jeff, every time Diane and I go to the mall we usually bump into one of our former students. When you teach for 30+ years you touch a lot of lives.
I couldn’t tell you who my 2nd grade teacher was, nor any of my elementary teachers. Maybe a couple of high school teachers. No college teachers. I guess it was the topic, not the teacher, who made the impact.
Rick, I’ve only had a handful of Great Teachers. And I’ve “borrowed” from them every teaching technique I could.
I feel as if I need to take one of your courses George! These notes are an indication of what a great teacher you are.
Deb, the note from the online student means a lot to me. I never met the student face-to-face. Our only interactions were over the Internet. But my class helped her and her family who were struggling financially. It feels good to help students in that situation even from afar.
Love those notes! Better than money, for sure. (Still, it wouldn’t hurt if they slipped a $100 bill in the envelope.)
Bill, I’m sure many of your students expressed the same thanks to you.
Wait until you retire. Phil got so many long ones from former students–mostly graduate students he had worked with for years. It was better than the crummy gift catalog the university sends out where you can choose your own gift.
Patti, when I retire I intend to just vanish from the College in the dead of the night. I don’t want any gifts or parties or hoopla. I’m sure plenty of students appreciate what they learned from Phil.
I thought retirement gifts went the way of the Dodo. I did get a coffee cup for my 40 years.
Rick, I don’t want any retirement gifts. I just want Love and Affection.
Jackie agrees with you, George, and always said the same. But she did appreciate the nice breakfast her friends and colleagues made for her. The current Chancellor (who she has known for over 30 years) even showed up!
Also, one of her gifts was her first Starbucks card, the beginning of a slippery slope.
Jeff, I wouldn’t turn down a STARBUCKS gift card, either! But each time I get a student Thank You note, I’m moved. It feels great to positively impact students and have that validated.
Way to go, George.
It’s HOT here, in the 90s again today, maybe 96. I have an extreme dislike for hot weather like this. TG for air conditioning.
Rick, we’re in the 80s (which is warm for us this early in June). I totally agree with you on heat and A/C.
We’ve had a week you’d have loved, Rick – two days in the 50s with rain and cooler than normal all week. Unfortunately, the heat is supposed to return this week.
Jeff, like you we’re in for a warmer than normal week.
George, those are lovely Thank You notes and I have no doubt you richly deserved them.
Prashant, I try my best to give my students the best education I can. But, it’s a partnership. They have to want to learn and do the work.
It’s always encouraging when someone takes time to acknowledge you.
Obviously, you’re doing something right.
This is the kind of stuff I hang onto, intending to reread it and remember in my declining years. Even if I never get around to it, someone else will find it and remember me as a good person.
Beth, I feel the same way. I keep all the personal Thank You notes students have written to me over the years. And, I try to send Thank You notes to people who I’m grateful to. I know Thank You notes mean a lot to me.