Student Blogs: A letter to my university on #TeacherAppreciationDay

Dear University,

“You are no one to have an opinion. Your job as students is to study the opinions of professionals, you cannot express your own.” This was my teacher’s ‘motto’. She was my teacher for five years and that sentence never left the back of my head throughout that time. I did what, according to her, was my job for five long years, and I did my best to do it well.

After high school, I took the difficult decision to move to the UK. I decided to embark on a new adventure, a tough one, away from my friends, my family, and from the life that felt so familiar but that for some reason also felt like I was not really suited for. I bounced into ‘Uni’ life, a completely different one. A better one from the one that was waiting for me back home. That is why I thank you, dear University, for giving me a chance.

Thanks to you, I met wonderful people, one of whom I fell madly in love with. We are making plans together. Going on holidays, saving up money for life projects. It is great fun and she makes everything easier. We were friends first and we lived together. Now we are best friends, we live together and we are a couple. I could not have asked for better. I will drop you a line when I find out how this ends.

Through you, I met Essays. It was so weird at first. I was evaluated exclusively through writing: “What kind of a system is that?!”, “What on earth does ‘critically evaluate’ mean?!”, I thought every now and again. Then I started liking it. It is probably thanks to Essays that I am writing this letter to you today. After my long and exhausting teenage years, I found an interest and next year I will pursue it more seriously. I like writing! Who would have thought…?

You also introduced me to Seminars, a think tank I had to take part in multiple times a week. It was a nightmare, every time I only heard the word I trembled. I still do, three years later, but much less. When I go to seminars, I still hear that motto that haunted me for five years resounding in my head. Now they force me to THINK, to have an OPINION, and to share it with others! Yes, it was a nightmare at first. It was something that was completely new to me and it took a long time getting used to, but I recently realised that it is actually pretty cool. The topics are really interesting and if I wanted to, I could even have heated debates with other students in front of the tutor or even with the tutor directly. I am not there yet, but… who knows…!

Dear University, I do not know what will happen next, but thanks to you, I feel like I am one step closer to being ready to face real life. I only have two years left before that happens, but I wanted to let you know that I will do everything I can to be prepared.

Thank you for the wonderful time you dedicated to me.

Kind regards,

A Student

Luca is a third year International Relations student. He is currently an intern at CMIR (Centre for Migration and International Relations) in Nepal where he researches issues concerning labour migration from Nepal to other countries, and writes case stories on migrant workers' experiences.

Note: 'Student Blog' pieces highlight the student perspective on issues relating to ProtectED. Consequently, this article reflects the views of the author and not ProtectED.