Hi everyone,

I just wrapped up my second year of classroom teaching.

I had a bit of a bumpy start for a variety of reasons but I ended up having a very good year.

Now that I've had time to decompress, one of the things I appreciated the most happened about two weeks ago.

Some background information: I teach English at a high school with a fairly big international program. As part of my contract, I live in the dormitories as a "dorm parent" with the students. Despite some of the challenges, it's one of the best things ever to happen to me.

Anywho, six months ago, our school held its winter show for the fine arts department.

One of my favorite pieces was created by one of our international students, a sophomore from Germany.

I asked her about it and she told me she planned to give it to her parents.

I completely forgot the conversation happened.

We do semester classes at this school so I had this student in class in the spring. She was performed in the play I directed. She became one of my favorites in the dorm this year.

Fast forward to the end of the year.

On the day before this student left to go home to Germany, the student gave the artwork to me to keep.

It took me a good 15 minutes before I realized..."Wait a minute! This is the one I asked her about!"

What makes this extra special to me is this student was very quiet. She was one of those students who followed the rules and spent most of her time with her small friend group.

It warms my heart to know I made a big enough difference in her life that she would do that.