28 Years From Now...

Imagine that you are twenty-eight years old, and you're writing to a cherished teacher whom you haven't heard from in ten years. Tell him/her about your professional life. What do you do for a living and how did you get there? Consider the following: What schools did you attend? What special training and degrees do you have? Where do you work and what is the name of your company? What do your coworkers and boss think of you? What professional successes and awards have you enjoyed since graduating from high school.



Dear Mr. Roddy,


Remember me? It's Brionna Scotton from Lindenwold High School. You were my mentor for the Senior Project, and my eleventh grade English teacher. I hope you remember because I remember you and I just wanted to know how you were doing these past 10 years. I, personally, am doing fine, I'm an English teacher just like you at a high school in Japan. I teach them how to read and write in English and try to inspire them to become interested in literature just like I am. It's hard work, but I love it because I'm getting this chance to teach students, in a country that I love, about the joys of writing and reading literature. I'm happy that I've gotten to where I wanted to be in life because I've worked so hard for it. After high school, I attended TCNJ, The College of New Jersey, and majored in English (Language and Literature), then in my junior year, I studied abroad in Japan! I was able to meet other college students, like myself, and observe how they lived and studied for exams and classes. It was a lot of fun and I made many new and exciting friends. I graduated from TCNJ, I received my BA and got accepted into Yale University's Graduate school for English Language and Literature for my Ph.D. To achieve that was hard work because I had to take many courses in two years, teach for two terms, take an oral exam, submit a dissertation prospectus, and finally submit a dissertation.

I first worked at the college as a student-teacher, and I did such a great job that I was recruited to work at a high school as full-time teacher! After one year, I transferred to prestigious high school in Japan because I've worked so hard just so I could be able to teach there. My coworkers and boss love me. I make them laugh by telling funny stories of my childhood, my mother and other family members. They respond by telling me great stories about themselves, and I'm glad that I've made such great friends. I have a really close friend and coworker at my job. Her name is Rie (Ree-ay), and she is similar to my close friends back home. She and I hit it off right after we met on my first day there, she helped me a lot and I really appreciated that. As of right now, she and I both share an apartment here in Tokyo, and we have a lot of fun together, my family met her when I visited home and loved her just as much as I do. I absolutely love teaching these teenagers. They adore me and always like coming to my class to hang out during lunch. I feel as though I'm a role model to them because they come to talk to me about a lot of things that they're going through. I always tell them that I'm not a guidance counselor, yet they still keep coming back. I feel like I'm wanted and appreciated at this school and I like this feeling. Well, I have to get going now, my lunch break is almost up, but when I come back to visit home, I'll make sure to drop by and see you.

Sincerely,
Brionna Scotton