Mr. Kreinbring, I remember the first day I ever spoke to you. It was back in my freshman year. I had heard ALL about you from my brother, and in my mind, you were a kind of a formidable but supercool celebrity. Apoorva and Tanya would talk about you and your class all the time at our Indian potluck parties, and I couldn't be more excited yet intimated by your class. You were built up to be this huge monument in high school, and your class was this tall mountain that I'd one day get to tackle. So, at the end of my freshman year, when I had this idea to get all of my brother's old teachers to sign a birthday card for him, I had to muster up the courage to go and talk to you. I was so scared. I stalled walking down the eng wing for the whole day. I distinctly remember looking down the hallway and turning away at least 3 times. When I finally did have the courage to go up to as you stood outside by your door, I remember I had the squeakiest, quietest little voice ever. You didn't know who I was, not really, but you were excited about the card and about my brother, which made me feel great. You were actually kind (well, relatively speaking). I don't remember anything after that, which probably is because I mentally passed out after the relief of not being yelled at. After that, I didn't talk to you again until AP Lang. I thought I was so ready for that class. I was ready to be the best damn Lang kid ever. You didn't scare me anymore. I was ready for everything you'd throw at us and I couldn't be more excited. Then, the first week of class, you gave us the Allegory of the Cave, and I couldn't have been more wrong. I wasn't ready at all. Lang was one of the most ground-breaking, universe-shattering classes I've ever taken, in an entirely good way. In Lit and Lang, I had to break old molds of how I'd done school for so long, and relearn how to learn. I had to learn to trust the process, which goes a lot deeper than just the process of doing a project or writing a paper. I had to learn to trust the process of Lit and Lang, and that once I went through it, once I let the classes teach me what they had to teach me, once I put in the work to understand, I would come out a better writer, a better reader, a better speaker. I learned so much. I wish I didn't have to use those words because they sound so cliched and overused at this point, but it's true. That's why cliches exist. I learned so much. These classes taught me how to think, how to read and understand and how to talk about my thoughts. They taught me to watch out for how language corrupts thought, taught me defense against the dark arts, taught me that what you call something matters, taught me that.... This class was everything for me. It was the class that stretched me when I didn't want to think too hard, and it made me grow as a student- for realsies. At the end of this year, I was so ready to leave. I was so ready for new adventures and new beginnings. I was ready for everything the world would throw at me, because I felt invincible after getting through your class. But once again, I have never been more wrong. I'm not ready to leave at all. I've made a new home in a new cave, with a new mask on, but this time, it's one I actually like. It's one I want to keep, one that helps me see better. And I'm not ready to leave. I have found a home in this class, next to people who aren't just classmates but friends and a crazy old qook of a teacher. This class was my safe space and also my unexplored, unbound territory. It was comfort blanket and my adventure pack. It was everything. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you to you, to the class, to the people who I sat in those seats with, who made this experience possible. Thank you. Sincerely, Riya