It’s me. Olivia. You taught 8th-grade science at Grover Cleveland middle. I was one of your students. It has been around five to six years since the Hail Mary launch. And you’re still not here.
I’ve grown to become a very smart and intelligent human being, as well as the rest of our class. We’ve split off to do our own things. Rehka went off to be a political speaker. She talks about you a lot, and even brings up stories that later on goes well with her arguments.
Parker went off to go to college, studying oceanography to become a marine biologist. He’s told me before that he’s wanting to become some sort of astronomer. He was always fascinated with space. Maybe an astrophysicist.. he always talked about stars and black holes. He was very smart.
I’m becoming a research scientist. I’m studying molecular biology just like you. Two weeks ago, on may 23rd, I graduated with our class. It was actually quite cool to see everyone there. We somehow never grew a part, even if we really wanted to. Maybe it was the magic you left on all of us. It was sort of interstellar. I blame it on the petrova line.
I made a group chat with all of them and asked everyone if they still had the bean bags that we still haven’t cashed in yet for prizes, like you promised. I was honestly looking forward to those prizes. Between you and me, I was going to win the most. No doubt about it.
Lucky enough, everyone had their beanbags, and so I created a little tradition. We decorated our caps with our favorite quotes from you. My quote on it was, “The best minds in the entire world are on it.” Mine was better than the rest, just saying. One of the students, Regina, made all of us pins for our gowns to wear so we had a little piece of you with us when we walked the stage.
Each one of us would walk half way on the stage, look out to the crowd, and hold up our bean bags. And then when we walked further more to be handed our diplomas, we would give the beanbags to them. Like cashing them in for the big prize.
Obviously we got them back.. but in the moment it felt good. It felt as if you were there watching all of us, and becoming so proud.
Everyone has that one teacher in their life that changed their perspective in life for the better. The one who was always there whenever we needed something. To give an example when we didn’t know how to move forward. You are that teacher, and I could never be more thankful to have such an amazing, and a very brave one at that.
Thank you for always being there, and know we’re always looking up into the stars, and maybe thinking that one of those stars is you looking down on us.