Dear previous, present, and future teachers,

(Feel free to take notes.)

We, as students, know when you want to be here. It’s simple, don’t be here if you do not want to be here. Nobody is forcing you. You chose this job. And quite honestly, Teacher, how do you expect us to want to be here if you don’t.

Instead of throwing your authority in our faces, why not use your authority for good? Bring a positive attitude. Spread it around a little.

Joke around with us….or some of us, anyway. Most of us enjoy the harassment. It shows that you care enough about your students to willingly pick on us.

Don’t be afraid to call us out on or acts of stupidity, because deep down, we know how stupid they truly were. We just need someone to bring our own lack of thought to our attention. 

Just a few weeks ago, Ms. Cox had to bring me down a notch.

I strutted into her classroom with an attitude like I had just won the lottery, and I was greeted with,”Why are you so happy? Have you seen your grades?” 

No.  I had not checked my grades in a while. If high school has taught me anything, it’s not to check Infinite Campus and not to check my bank account. 

Ms. Cox cares enough to look at all her students’ grades and was dedicated to helping us no matter what it took.

Without her, by the time I would have looked at my grades, it would have been too late to save myself from a possible trip to summer school. 

However, Teachers, be careful not to care too much. As teenagers, we are bound to disappoint, and you will only hurt yourself in the process. First-year teachers tend to fall victim to this the most. They walk into their first teaching jobs with the hopes and dreams of fixing the youth.

The youth simply can not be fixed. It’s in our DNA.

The only people that can truly fix us is us.

Don’t get me wrong, we will need you to be there when we get our act together. And even if we don’t admit it, we need you along the way. Just don’t give up on us…

Because we can also surprise you and exceed your expectations. We just need to find a perfect balance.

Never mind, scratch that, its more of a healthy balance….because is there honestly such a thing as a perfect one?

It’s always great to see the look on the teachers’ face after you have done what they saw as the “undo-able” or at least the undo-able by you.

It’s almost like a look of shock mixed with surprise mixed with a little bit of hmmm…or at least that’s what Strecker’s face looks like.

Homecoming week was a week were I saw that face a WHHOOLE lot.

I honestly think Strecker kept doubting me because she knew how much it got under my skin, and I could not help but prove her wrong. That week, I put a gallery up for every single Spirit Day, when it usually takes two days to get one up.

Quite honestly, disapproval is the ultimate motivator.

I know this paragraph contradicts the previous sentiment of how we disappoint, but hey, I’m a teenager, our whole lives are filled with contradictions.

Now let’s talk about the student wannabes.

We can spot all of the teachers that teach high school solely because they don’t want to leave high school.

STOP. Don’t be that teacher. You’re not fooling anyone.

But who am I to give advice? It’s not like I have had 50+ teachers in the past 12 years.