I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you!

TO MY SENIORS:

For the last six weeks or so, I have been silently begging y’all to start annoying me so that it would be easy to say goodbye to y’all. However, unfortunately, here we are, and you’re still as amazing as you were the day I met you, so instead of me saying goodbye to you because you’re annoying me, I’m saying goodbye to you because you’re moving on to better things. I wish I could keep you for another year. Speaking of, there is still time, and I will gladly fail you if you want to go for a 5th year. 

Class of 2024 has been my favorite group of seniors, and I do not say that phrase lightly. From the beginning of the year, we all bonded immediately over the candy, stickers, and stamps I bought y’all. My favorite memory is when I ran out of candy and started handing out condiments like Chick-fil-A sauce, Texas Petes, mustard, and sugar packets. That was when many of us bonded because you realized how weird I was, but you were here for it. We also bonded over y’all never finishing your work on time or turning in work six weeks late with puppy dog eyes, cheating your way through College Bridge (yes, I knew you were cheating the whole time). At one point, I started using the phrase, “I don’t care how it gets done, Just get it done,” which became our motto for the year. We bonded over our daily check-in, where we talked about how we were feeling that day, and I always went first because I was the boss.

I also always made the joke that if I didn’t come back to work one day, it was because I was working at Buc-ees selling beaver nuggets, which honestly is still a solid backup plan that I consider weekly, but then my husband passed away, and I didn’t come back for a few weeks. I remember the day after he died, I was texting Ms Cornelius and Ms. Vanmeter and telling them to make sure you guys were okay and that you knew I didn’t abandon you. Even on the worst days of my life, I was worried about y’all. Some of you have had more challenging lives than others, and my classroom has become a safe space for you. It broke my heart to think that you would think I’d disappeared on you just when we were all getting into a groove and getting to know each other better. So, initially, after Coleman’s funeral, I had decided that I wouldn’t return to school this year because I didn’t think I could give y’all what you needed. I didn’t know how I could show up, put a smile on, and be an effective teacher when I wasn’t even an effective human being then. But then your messages started. I received Remind 101 messages, Google Classroom messages, emails, letters, notes, sticky notes, and video messages, all with the constant theme that you missed me. Some of you missed the candy, or you missed me being easy because the sub was giving you too much work. Still, you noticed that I wasn’t there, and it was impacting you, and I realize that if I’m going to survive this next chapter of my life, then I’m going to need to hold onto the things that I love and you guys had a massive piece of my heart by that point. I also realized that you needed to see someone going through the worst time of their life but still showing up. It wasn’t going to be pretty, but I felt like you needed to see someone fighting through the bad to get to the good.

  When I returned in January, I was terrified, but you ambushed me with love from when you guys started walking in the door. At one point, some of y’all saw me from the other end of the hallway and ran towards me screaming, which made the security guard think a fight was about to happen. I even had a few of you hug me so hard that I lost my balance and almost busted my butt in the middle of the hallway. Overall, you guys showed up for me, so I wanted to do everything possible to show up for y’all.  So I showed up as many days as possible and gave y’all as much love as possible. There were times when I would disappear for a few days, and I know that y’all understood that that’s what I needed to do for myself, but it always made me feel really good when I would get your sweet little comments or messages checking on me.  It really made a difference,

So, as you prepare for your next chapter, I want you to know how much of an impact you had on me and that I love each of you dearly. I love the constant gossip that you thought I wasn’t listening to, the brutal honesty, the laughter, the off-task playing Uno or filming TikToks, the fact that we got to the point where you would take the last water out of my fridge or ask if you could have my breakfast or lunch, and most of the time I just let you have it. I love that you knew I wasn’t assigning you work while I was out because you told the sub, “I know Mrs. Stafford didn’t give us this… she would never give us this much work!” which is so true.  I recently told an assistant principal that if he came into my room, it would look like I was throwing a frat party, which some days it was. But I would also tell them to sit and listen to y’all because y’all were laughing, and you’re roasting each other, and you’re yelling Uno and then Uno Out, and then somehow that becomes an argument even though the game has had literal rules for like 40 years. Or you are talking about all the drama that y’all seem to get yourselves into with your boyfriend and your girlfriend, your side friends and friends who aren’t your friends, and then people who you wish were your friends and the people you stalk and everything in between. I also got to watch y’all be accepted to your dream colleges or say, “Mrs. Stafford, I think I want to try and go to college,” and we figure out what that looks like. I got to watch you apply to your trade school, figure out what career you want to pursue, enlist in the military, apply for scholarships, and all in all, help you get to a place where you wake up the day after graduation and are excited about the next chapter. 

You guys are a special group, and I will miss every one of you. Please always remember how amazing you are and that you were a light for me during a dark time. No matter how tough life gets, you will always have that light within you, so don’t let anything take it away. Keep chasing your dreams because you deserve every good thing the world offers. I love you dearly, and I will miss everything about this group.

Love, Brittany