Hello! I just found rootbound the other day and said, "oh this sounds good I'll start it and read a chapter or two..." Before I knew it it was 4am and I had read it all. Genuinely this is one of the best fanfictions I have ever read (and I've read a lot) and I can tell that it's one that will stick with me for a long long time after it's finished. I have so many things to say about it but mostly I have to ask- are you an educator irl? The way you write the kids and Grace's passion for them is so earnest and it sounds to me like it comes from personal experience. I am also a teacher and it makes me so emotional to read about why we do what we do in such a touching and personal way. I think, in another timeline where I wasn't already a teacher, this fic might influence me to become one. I kept wanting to leave comments along the way but I'm not a writer and I feel like I don't have the words to properly communicate how deeply this fic is impacting me but... thank you for writing it and I am so excited to keep following along. It is truly something special <3
Thank you for your kind words!! This one is also gonna stick with me too I think :)
I am a teacher! I teach high school science in an urban/inner-ring suburb of a mid major city, so it’s not the same as teaching in a large district in a big city like San Francisco, but a lot of the kiddos deal with a lot of similar things (we also have a lot of kids from the city open enrolled, so we have a lot of urban kiddos). I also have the same certification Ryland would have, 7-12 science. While I teach older kids, i find it’s not too hard to adjust the behaviors I see in my 15 year olds to fit his 12 year olds better.
I also, much like Ryland, started as a biology major but switched over to science ed! His backstory is so so special to me. Yeah, in canon he went far far deeper into science than I did, but there’s such a joy of getting to share the thing you loved and studied with young minds.
It makes me so so happy that other teachers found this fic and love it :) I try to show my experiences through Ryland as well as I can.
As I’m sure you know, it can be hard to be a caring, compassionate teacher sometimes. Being one doesn’t inherently mean you have to burn yourself out, but some days, you really can’t help it. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, and the kids ask good questions in completely asinine ways, and they’ll ask you for more than you are contractually obligated to give, but you want to do it anyways. You want to because the kids are just… well, kids! They are growing and learning and deserving of kindness and respect. And so many of them are missing something important in their lives: attention, love, a patient presence, a gentle hand on their shoulder, a safe place to rest. You want to give them that. And sometimes, you can’t help but want to give more than you probably should.
It’s tiring and crazy and some days I come home dead on my feet, but I can’t imagine anything more rewarding! My first group of kids just graduated and seeing them grow from 15 to 18 was so lovely :) I’m so so proud of them. Reminds me to be patient with my current 15 year olds when they’re being verifiable ass pains, because they’re just KIDS and they’re growing and I’m an adult they feel safe being an ass pain to.
Auugh sorry I love yapping about my job hehe. I’m sure you get it!!
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