Working at a high school, I am constantly inundated with young girls trying to imitate celebrities through their looks. It is incredibly frustrating at times to witness the mental and physical torture they put themselves through to be “beautiful”, but every so often, a truly beautiful student comes in, and lights up the room. The following letter is to one of my many students. This one was written with her permission. For both of our sakes, I will not mention any specifics or names for this one…
Dear Beautiful Student,
It is rare to meet a teenager like you. In you, I see some of the deepest beauty there is. You have confidence in yourself, and that, my friend, is rare for anyone. (Even me.) You display a steadfastness in your beliefs that makes you radiant. Your unique features are to be celebrated! Why would anyone want to look like everyone? I hope more girls your age learn something from you. You have so many beautiful internal qualities that only enhance your external beauty. So what if you aren’t exactly like everyone else? Believe it or not, that is a beautiful thing! Everything from your height, to your nose makes you who you are, and that is beautiful! So keep your head held high, and your eyes wide open, because that is something others admire about you…. Even me ;-)
--Me
I am so happy you shared this letter with your student. Happy doesn't even begin to cover it, actually. I'm glad for her that she has a teacher who sees her for who she is and tells her so, and I'm proud to know I have a friend like you who sees beauty everywhere it exists.
ReplyDeleteYou are so beautiful and loving, Rachel. Thank you.
What a lovely tribute. I hope she will internalize your words ...rarely will a teacher comment on a students character unless of course it is a teacher like yours!
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