Dear graduating class of 2020,
In December of 2016 I got an email. Your school needed a 9th grade English teacher for the second semester. To teach or not to teach. I chose to teach. I’m so glad I did.
It was just a semester, but I quickly grew to love “my ninth graders.” I will never forget the day one of you (do you remember who it was?) was reading a rather difficult poem and after struggling with the text—could there be anything more glorious than young minds laboring to grasp the intended meaning of an author?—she finally exclaimed from somewhere near the bottom of her soul, “This poem is so awesome!”
I walked about three feet off the ground for the rest of the day.
But then, as tends to happen, time passed, the second semester ended, your freshman year of high school ended, time continued to march steadily onward, and now, the spring semester of 2020 has rolled around. And “my ninth graders” are seniors. A few have come and a few have gone since the spring semester of 2017. But that’s OK. I haven’t forgotten those who have left, and those who have come, well, you’ve become “my ninth graders,” too.
And then corona virus happened. Life came to a grinding halt. And you are going to have to graduate high school online. It is a punch in the kidneys. No doubt about it. I just hope you don’t waste the opportunity to learn even from this.
So, to once more spur your young minds on, I’ve written you a series of open letters entitled Truths to Build Your Life On. Unfortunately, I can only lead you as far down the path as I myself have traveled. And I will be the first one to say that I have so far to go. But this is what I’ve learned for now. Hit me up in 20 years and I might have a few more things to add to this list, but here we are. And there you are, about to finish your high school career during a very uncertain period of our collective history: during a pandemic. We do what we can with what we have in the moment and commit it all to God’s ridiculous grace.
Many things have changed. Many more things will change. I can attest to the fact that the truths I want to communicate to you will not change. Ever. Not in million years. Receive these letters as a rather insufficient attempt for me to communicate to you how highly I think of you and how much I pray that your lives will be lives built on an unshakable bedrock of truth that won’t crack even when the earth itself melts away and time and space as we know them cease to exist.
More letters to come.
With great affection,
Mr. Evans
P.S. I’m not your teacher anymore, so you can just call me Eric, OK?
Other Posts in this Series
Truths to Build Your Life On: Open Letters to the Class of 2020, Part 1
Truths to Build Your Life On: Open Letters to the Class of 2020, Part 2
Truths to Build Your Life On: Open Letters to the Class of 2020, Part 3
Truths to Build Your Life On: Open Letters to the Class of 2020, Part 4