Letter to Students

August 21 -- I start work tomorrow in my second career (sort of) as an English teacher.  It's been 15 years since I was last teaching full time and I am excited and nervous.  All at once.  I was just writing my letter to the students and I wrote the following  (it did much to quell my fears about starting a new job and...sending my Luke to college this week!)

I have many favorite quotes but when I think about selecting one, I go to Eleanor Roosevelt who was a very strong and amazing woman and a tremendous role model.  She was married to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was very active in supporting human rights throughout the world.   She helped start the United Nations and later became a US delegate.  Her quote, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing you cannot do,” is something that resonates with me.  As I have gone through my life, I have been faced with many challenges, many moments of fear where I wanted to turn away.  We all do.   I come from parents who were immigrants; my Polish father was captured by the German soldiers in WWII and was forced to work in a labor camp in Germany.  He was only 17 years old, a year younger than my oldest son who is now in his first year in college.   When I am faced with fear, I think of my family who, through love, hard work and tremendous courage has succeeded in building a great life in this country.   As a result, I have tried to model my life on that lesson in courage.