Thank you!

Wouldn’t be a thank you letter for English without Valentino!

To the one and only Ms. Valentino, 

Whenever I talk to adults about teachers, they always share the sentiment that there is one teacher from their entire academic career who “did it”. And by “it”, I mean genuinely change their life for the better. And you, Ms. Valentino, have done it. The love that you have for the English language runs so deep that it was impossible not to get immersed into this way of viewing the world from the very beginning. From finding hidden meanings, to unpacking symbolism, to understanding clever uses of irony and satire, there have been so many laughs, so much learning, and a lot of inspiration— and all of the credit goes to you. You may not realize it, but I hope that after reading all of these thank you letters from you students that you understand the profound impact that you’ve had on me and all of the people you have taught in the past. I can’t even put it into words (even after spending the last 9 months with you). The various pieces that we’ve read in class have opened my eyes up to what is past my immediate surroundings, and has challenged me to seek out what is just out of sight. From each and every piece that we’ve read in your class, I have learnt something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. How ‘Sweat’ is the story of so many people, even in Troy, and you never know what someone is going through. How all of us are just as complex as Jay Gatsby, deep down. How we are all made of up of different parts of the people in our lives, whether we know them as well as family or met them from a brief second, just like Vladek in Maus. 

This next part is a bit backhanded (sorry!!): 

At Troy High, the focus on STEM centered subjects is very overpowering, and has seemed at times like you only matter if you’re going into one of those fields, like engineering, or the medical field. And as a person who is hilariously bad at all things STEM and only likes English and History, it’s been rough. But your class has singlehandedly made me understand why people major in English. I never got it before, because to me, reading has only ever been for entertainment. But you have challenged me time and again to look deeper at what literature says about our world, and how literature shapes our lives in so many ways that I’ve never thought of before. Now I understand why someone would want to spend their entire life analyzing the literature of the world, because literature truly is life. You have this enormous amount of passion for the English language that is so clear to see, and you’ve shown me how much meaning and beauty a singular piece can hold. Heck, I may even major in English now. And lastly, the compassion that you have; not only for your students, but as a person. I don’t think I’ve ever had a teacher that goes to such lengths for students to be able to watch a play for a field trip, AND order sandwiches for them specifically because of its relation to the play. You, Ms. Valentino, are truly one of a kind, and I hope you know that! Please never stop teaching!

Some things this class has made me do: 

1. Get a library card. 
2. Start going to the library in the first place. 
3. Join a book club! 
4. Read more. Way more. Physical books of every genre. 
5. Be more interested in what surrounds me everyday. In who surrounds me, and what lessons and stories they have to offer.
6. Look forward to English everyday :)

I don’t know if I can even say it enough, but thank you thank you thank you for everything that you’ve taught me this year. 

To Lynn Nottage: 

Thank you for bringing to me the stories that don’t get much attention. Thank you for being brave with your word choice and dialogue, and beautiful in the meanings. Thank you for your humor— you garnish my day every time I think back to the characters you’ve created. To Lynn Nottage, thank you for being an author! 

To Vanshika and Annabella: You guys are my best English buddies ever!! I don’t think I could’ve gotten through English without Annabella reminding me to read our assigned pieces and Vanshika’s humor. It is so great to be able to experience AP Lang with you guys this year, and I’m actually going to miss this class too much. Fingers crossed we have Lit together next year!!