Hey there, Mr. Wright!
I wrote you around this time last year. I hope you're still well and in good spirits like you always were. To this day, you are still my favorite English teacher. English has really lost its luster for me. The last time I truly enjoyed it was when I was in your class, to be honest. Now, it's too easy and too tedious. I was enrolled in English 2A for my Sophomore year, and we had to read Animal Farm and Catcher in the Rye. I remember you telling us we were going to have to encounter these books back in 7th grade. Dialectical journals, yuck. ANIMAL FARM MADE ME SO ANGRY BECAUSE IT'S JUST ATKJNJNOAPTSWEF. The movie for it was freaky.
Anyway, I've decided not to take any English AP classes in the next two years. I'm staying in regular English.
I'm doing well, by the way. Mayyybe a little unfit (more like ""I'm really out of shape HAHA"") and kind of fatigued, but I'm in good spirits. High school has been a wild ride, and I have actually done worse than I ever academically have done in my entire life this year. I have to retake math classes, as I am doing right now. School is hard.
I'm currently deciding between a teaching career and pediatrics. I'd love to work with kids. My college goal is UC Davis or UC Irvine, with Santa Clara University as my back up and SJSU as a safety.
I'm also about to enter 11th grade, a crucial year if I want to go to college. It's hard. I've gone through a lot of stress and have had to attend regular counseling sessions at school because I couldn't quite handle the pressure. I'll be the first in my family to go to college!
Also, my friends and I are starting up a new club called S.Y.N.C. (Support Youth, Nourish Communities) where we focus on raising money to aid local establishments in our community and raising awareness on issues and illnesses that many people go uneducated about. We have very high hopes for this club, and someday maybe we'll dedicate a month to Goats for Peace.
I do miss my middle school days. Well....maybe not my middle school days as much as the people I enjoyed the company of. The memories, perhaps?
(**NOTE: I'm SIX/TEEN/. I FEEL OLD. 7TH GRADE WAS LIKE, //FIVE YEARS AGO//.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of the year and maybe one day our paths will cross again, Mr. Wright.
--Sincerely, Ivy Tran c/o 2012"
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Hi Ivy!!!!!!!!!!!!
"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."
Yep, I liked Animal Farm and The Catcher in the Rye was the first book I read that I liked. I didn't read either for school. In the classroom I made them available, but the last thing I wanted to do is ruin them by teaching them. I hope your school experience with them didn't ruin them for you.
Yep, I liked Animal Farm and The Catcher in the Rye was the first book I read that I liked. I didn't read either for school. In the classroom I made them available, but the last thing I wanted to do is ruin them by teaching them. I hope your school experience with them didn't ruin them for you.
I think UC Davis is wonderful. That's where I wanted my son to go but he decided to go farther away from home. Irvine I hear is pretty good and so is Santa Clara and SJSU. But Davis, oh, I like Davis.
You are the first in your family to go to college? Wow. That might add to your pressure, but I'm sure you'll do fine.
Yes, the 11th grade is the most important grade for college. Knock yourself out.
AP classes are good because of the level of students they attract but the actual curriculum is too focused on the test. I hope one of these days they will change AP. I think it kills the spirit of many fine subjects.
It warms my heart to see that you are starting that club. If you're raising money, let me know how I can make a contribution.
Pediatrics or teaching? Both are good fields that will give you meaning as well as income. Life is too short to just make money. (Last night I watched the old movie, You Can't Take it With You. I highly recommend it.) Now, as for teaching, it can be the best job in the world if you have an administration that supports rather than micromanages. Morrill had some great principals who went out of their way to do everything they could to support what I did. But there were also Morrill principals who were stupid and evil who tried very hard to have me fired. If you go into teaching, I hope you have good administrators. If you do, it can be absolutely the most rewarding job in the world. Oh, but in case you didn't know, it's very hard work and the hours are long. Oh, and I used to love it because I could take home chalk to draw on the sidewalk with my son, but I understand they don't use chalkboards anymore. The chalkboard in my classroom was the last one at Morrill. Soon after I retired, they replaced it with a white board.
I'm very pleased to hear from you.
Keep me posted on the story of your life.
