As much as I call you names, make fun of you, and overall hate on you for fun, I am going to miss you dearly. You saw something in me that many teachers dismiss and I appreciate you for that, you are one of the first teachers to tell me that I'm smart and actually mean it.
You remind me to smile and that makes me smile. You genuinely care about your students and you want us to succeed, even the ones who don't give a shit about your class and just need the credit.
I can't lie, I didn't know what to think of you at first because when I first met you, you didn't match everyone's description of you. Everyone made you sound like this badass teacher who doesn't give a fuck, but that's not you at all. I didn't 'understand' you at first and that made me nervous and intimidated by you.
Now it's the end of the semester, I won't see you again until 2025, and I finally understand who you are as a teacher. You're not badass to be honest, you just have tattoos and a cool accent. And you do give a fuck, you give all the fucks about your students. Even when you were in the damn hospital after having a whole hip replacement, you did your best to put your students first.
You're not just another teacher. You're so much more, and you never fail to show your students how intelligent they truly are. You bring out the good in them and recognize strengths and weaknesses.
You don't get paid enough for the differences you make.