I have known since before I was even in high school that I wanted to be a writer. Towards the end of my high school education I had an English teacher tell me I would never be a writer, that I should drop out of her English class because I was wasting my time and hers.

To the English teacher who crushed my dreams in one class,

I’m going to do it. I’m going to write a book. I WILL be a published author. I hope when you see that I’m a published author you remember that day in class when you told me my writing wasn’t even good. I didn’t forget how angry and upset I was. I tried in your class, I really did. I couldn’t follow your prompts and write gold every time you assigned us to write an essay in a 45 minute period. I don’t regret that, 45 minutes isn’t enough time to write gold, if you want me to write as well as Shakespeare you should’ve given us more time.

You didn’t even teach better writing skills, you taught us how to follow the prompt in 45 minutes so we’d do well on the test. You didn’t improve any of our writing skills. I learned nothing from you. However, you did get to me that day. I stopped writing after that, for about a year honestly. I wasn’t until my last year in high school when we had to write a final project that I was told I was a good writer. I had dreaded that project because I was worried you were right. You weren’t. I wrote a very well written paper and was told I was a good writer, even that I should consider journalism.

I would like to thank you though, I had it not been for you I wouldn’t have tried so hard on that paper and no one would’ve encouraged me to follow my dreams. You made me doubt myself, but through that doubt I became stronger. I became a better writer because of you. You may not like it, or agree with it, but I WILL become a published author. I will succeed.