Day Two: The Thank You Letter

I don’t know about you, but when it’s my birthday, I don’t shut up about it.  My constant ramblings about it amount to the equivalent of a radio advertisement.  I tell teachers, friends, family, dentists, random people on the street…all multiple times.  And last Sunday I turned 18.  So, as you can imagine, my endless banters increased tenfold.

Something else you may not know about me is that I mentor for fifth grade.  I correct papers, clean and organize the classroom, and answer students’ questions.  What’s really cool is that the fifth grade teacher is the same teacher I had in elementary school- my favorite teacher I’ve had my entire school career.

It goes without saying that my big, excited, almost-18-year-old mouth told my favorite teacher about my birthday probably weeks before it was even September.  And she remembered.  And she made it amazing.

It was 9:10 on Thursday, September 6th*. (See!  This meant so much to me I remember almost everything- even the littlest details.  I NEVER remember the little details.)  The second period bell echoed through the halls as I walked into the fifth grade classroom.  I recall that the lights were off and a feeling of anticipation washed through me.  Mentoring is my favorite part of the day.

I was venturing to my student mentoring desk as the entire classroom burst into singing!

“Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday to you!...”

When the singing was over a giant, homemade card popped out of nowhere!  All the kids had signed it with squiggly letters and misspelled words.  It made me so happy!

A little boy even gave me a beautiful bookmark!  Beaming, I walked out of the classroom to put up social studies projects in the hallway, and when I came back to my desk, a Maurice’s gift card greeted me.

It was an amazing birthday.

*Because of Homecoming on September 7^th and the weekend, the fifth graders couldn’t celebrate my birthday on its exact day, September 9^th.

I wanted to do something to show my supreme gratitude for what the fifth graders did for me.  So, in the spirit of my senior project, I wrote a thank you letter!

 My mom always stressed thank you letters.  In fourth grade I had my ninth birthday party.  And after all the cake was eaten and presents where opened, my mom forced me the write thank you letters.  I thought it was the stupidest thing in the world.

I mean, I already said thank you!  Why should I have to do it again?  So reluctantly, I wrote 20-some Thank You’s with no effort at all.  And my mom had me rewrite each one of them.

Now that I’m 18, I know the importance of writing thank you letters.  The person who gave you something doesn’t HAVE to give you it.  They went out of their way to make YOUR life better.  You need to be grateful and, more importantly, SHOW your thankfulness.

Thank you letters don’t have to be anything huge and expensive.  The one I created was made of construction paper for crying out loud!  Just make sure to put in as much time and effort in it as you can.

And most of the time, people give you extra props if you give them something sweet.

:)