Dear Student V

Dear Student,

It's been almost two months since I last wrote a letter like this, and considering grades were due yesterday, I thought I'd send this out posthaste.

What is that? You're not sure what I mean with the term posthaste? Somehow, I'm not surprised, considering just last week you asked me what the word viscera meant. Ha. Yes, don't deny it. You asked me, at the almost-end-of-the-semster, what I meant by that word. I wanted to chuckle in your face, but I'm a better person than that, and I know we all make mistakes. But you came to class most of the time, so I'm not really sure how that term slipped by you. (In case you still haven't looked it up, viscera refers to the internal organs within the body. And posthaste means without delay. By the way, you're welcome.)

But unlike past letters, I'm writing today to say thank you. (Yes, I'm actually writing a positive Dear Student letter.) Because this past semester has been, in one word, pleasant. I'm not kidding, you know. I could use other synonyms to describe it: charming, enjoyable, lovely, or pleasing. (But never gorgeous.) You came into class each day (for the most part) on time and ready to learn (yeah, I saw you nodding off from time to time, but you were quiet about it, so I let you get away with it) and made it to each and every exam. I didn't hear you whine about how difficult the material was, and you were pretty respectful of me and my time. No, let's make that very respectful. You did what past students haven't been able to do for a while: you reminded me why I love science and why I went into teaching in the first place.

Due to the nature of my life right now--I have errands to run and packages to wrap, cookies to bake and blog posts to write--I'm going to keep this letter short (as if). Just know that I appreciate you and hope that you've walked away from my class with a better understanding of the body than you had when you walked in. And if you don't, well then, I don't want to hear about it. Just smile and wave the next time I see you. I don't mind ignorance sometimes.

Sincerely,

Your teacher

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm so glad you had a semester of pleasant students! Quick question about viscera... if it refers to internal organs WITHIN the body, can I use it when I kill off a character in a violent death and those organs are now on the OUTSIDE of the body?
Christina said…
I think so. Because the word--to my knowledge--just tells us where those organs originated. So if you tell us that the abdominal viscera is splayed on the sidewalk, we know exactly what you mean. There is a word called evisceration, which just means " The process whereby tissue or organs that usually reside within a body cavity are displaced outside that cavity, usually through a traumatic disruption of the wall of the cavity; for example, evisceration of bowel." (Now, you have me intrigued...)
Anonymous said…
of course, evisceration... makes total sense

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