Highlight of the year

Who would have thought that the highlight of the year for a teacher would come in the summer?

Yet, that's just what happened last Thursday afternoon.

I received a text from Sam, a former student, who graduated just last spring.  He was wondering what I was doing and if he could stop by (without being an inconvenience - talk about manners).

He stopped by as I was taking a pizza out of the oven.  He chatted with Kristie and asked Kenzie how she likes the Scooby Doo board game he gave her at his graduation.

Then he told me the reason for his visit: he had just been awarded a $5,000 scholarship.  Sam was quite proud - as well he should be!

Then he gave me a big hug and said that the person awarding the scholarship had mentioned the letter of recommendation I wrote for Sam.  To be fair, I remember it, but I write about two dozen letters of recommendation every year, so the exact details are fuzzy.

I told Sam that he had more than earned his glowing recommendation.  Then he said the person who awarded the scholarship had also talked about how impressed he was with Sam's essay that he had to write for the scholarship.

"What did you write about?" I asked.

Sam gave his patented sheepish look and then said, "well, I wrote about my 9th grade year of football when I was injured.  I wrote how I thought about quitting, but you talked me into helping out with the team.  Then I wrote about the touchdown pass I caught in practice when you had me - still in street clothes - sneak out as a wide receiver and breeze past the secondary for the touchdown.  While that moment was great, it also taught me that there is more to school than sports."

Ha ha.  Sam spoke about that moment at the Honor's Banquet too!  What a great moment for him (and for me).

"That's awesome, Sam," I said.

He smiled and confessed, "the man awarding the scholarship asked me if that's why I want to be an English teacher.  And I said that our relationship was a big reason in my decision."

I think in our profession, the greatest compliment we can ever get is knowing that we've made an impact.  Thanks to Sam, I have no doubt about the impact I made.  And Sam knows, from his senior letter, how much of an impact he has made on me.

That's why I have the greatest job in the world.