On a Personal Note
Those who attended Hart High School know that a name largely responsible for establishing the school’s outstanding reputation is Pew. Unfortunately, I just received the startling news that Mr. Pew is now one of the millions per year who are diagnosed with cancer. I don’t know the details, and the details aren’t what’s important, what is though, is that we show our support. The following is a letter I intend to send to him via email, and I encourage those who were as positively influenced by Mr. Pew as I was to follow suit.
Dear Mr. Pew,
I have had the misfortune to learn of your current state of health, and it has seriously affected me. Following my completion of elementary school, my study habits and investment into my education took a steep decline. While testing scores always ensured me a spot in accelerated learning classes throughout middle school and high school, my outspoken behavior and lack of motivation plagued me throughout my adolescence.
Now that I’m 19 and inching closer to adulthood, I look back on those awkward years and can’t help but feel a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. I’ve contemplated why I exhibit such an inconsistent attitude with regards to my schooling: I mean for g-d sakes my mom, dad and stepdad are all in the educational system. Yet, amidst my plethora of clouded memories an uncharacteristically clear recollection exists. That is, of course, your AP U.S. History class. All of the inconsistency and misbehavior that defined me as a student, that endeared me to my fellow peers and isolated me from my instructors, was absent during my time in your class in the F building. The experience I had in that class during my junior year transformed the classroom from the Bastille into my second home.
Mr. Pew, the fear I had in disappointing you rivaled only how I felt when I had this insane crush on this girl Hayley in Pre-K. I asked her to marry me… it didn’t work out. In fact, the sole reason that I didn’t take the AP Gov exam was because of the overwhelming concern I had that you would be disappointed in me when you took our class in for that three week review session leading up to the exam. I hadn’t taken good notes or studied as much as I should have, and I knew that the necessary measures I had taken to earn a 5 on the AP exam junior year I hadn’t done during my senior campaign. I have very few regrets because I know that the mistakes I have made will shape my character far more than the good decisions. However, as unfortunate as it is that this current situation is what led me to realize this, I deeply regret not being there for those final three weeks.
You are the archetype teacher, and since taking your class I have judged all of my instructors based on the standard that you established. I make decisions that I think will make my three parents, little sister, and other loved ones happy. For that brief period from 2007-08, you were the outside party that fit into that category. Now I’m older and more reasonable (up for debate), and I understand that my desire to positively promote you as a figure in my life should exist long beyond my days as your student. Maybe I’ll never stop being your student. If such is true, I am comforted by this thought.
A little bit about me: Right now I am currently attending community college and plan on becoming a police officer once my education is over. I guess the Stone/Thatt family gravitates toward public sector jobs. I currently live in San Francisco and have been a sportswriter for the better part of two years now. I needed this experience up north to find myself, and now that I’ve done that I plan on finishing my education and pursuing my career back in Los Angeles. It has been a challenge dragging myself through college, but I know that the lingering acceptance of higher education that keeps me in class has something to do with the experience that we once shared. I could easily get my Associates Degree and call it a day on my academic career, but I’m starting to think that getting a Bachelor’s Degree is something I should pursue seriously. My increased understanding of my duty as a son and older brother has brought me to realize how getting a four-year degree is beneficial for all concerned parties. But while I understand the importance of a four-year degree, my willingness to accomplish feats that require me to overcome negative aspects of my personality and reverse ten years of poor academic decisions wouldn’t exist had it not been for my time in your class. I SERIOUSLY hope to hear back from you, and hope everything is as right as rain eventually.
You had on display in your room a bevy of your favorite quotations and political figures. I’ll always remember sitting under Milton Friedman’s, “There is no such thing as a free lunch,” quote. It humbles me to understand that historical figures such as Friedman have had an effect on your ideology and personality in the same way you had an effect on your students. This similarity shatters the veil of fear, respect, and awe that kept your students at the necessary distance to learn effectively, and brings you to a level of personal acquaintance that I feel is necessary, especially in a time such as this. I’ll never be able to fully explain the positive effect your classroom environment had on me. To save your time, I’ll end on that note, otherwise this letter, which I intended to be one of appreciation, will be one of repetition. Last thing I need is for my syntax and the clarity of my messages to be under scrutiny once again.
Best Wishes,
Ernie Stone
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