“If it doesn’t break your heart, it
isn’t love. If it doesn’t break your heart, it isn’t enough.”
“Yet” by Switchfoot
It is
difficult to put into words all of the things that I am feeling as I am saying
goodbye to all of my students, to my classroom, and to a school that I love.
For many, the last day of school might be a cause for celebration, but for me,
I am overwhelmed with tears and emotion. I do not know if I am supposed to
feel this way because I have never seen this happen before. In all of my years
as a student, teachers would come and go. Year after year, some would leave to
a different city; some would retire. It was a normal occurrence that never
brought anyone to tears.
But my
heart is broken and shattered, knowing that I will be leaving students that I
love. It is perhaps unlikely that I will ever see them in person again. My
students are more than students; they are my friends. I know that I love each
of them dearly because it breaks my heart to leave. I gave them everything, all
of me, and all of my heart, these past two years. I sought to make my classroom
a place where all students would feel loved and cared for. I sought to
know my students as real people. I sought to love them, even when I felt like I
couldn’t love anymore.
When I
started teaching two years ago, I wanted to be an once-in-a-lifetime teacher. I
wanted to be the teacher that students would remember twenty years later. I
wanted to be the teacher that students tell their grandchildren about. To all
of my students, I hope I was that teacher for you. I will always love you.
Farewell.