Thank You Letter, Research Paper Example

Even before I begin to set down my appreciation for something that has had great meaning for me, I confront an enormous problem. It is the frustration of being unable to do anything more than acknowledge what I have been given, and merely express my thanks for it. I imagine the frustration is ordinary, but this makes it no less powerful. I feel as though I have been given something so valuable, I must convey the reality as fully and honestly as I can, yet the nature of the gift is such that gratitude seems weak. At the same time, however, my need to reflect on the meaning, and the deep appreciation I feel, demands that I try. It is, as is true of others in my place, the best I can do.

What, then, is creating this dilemma for me? It is everything I have been able to take away from my research writing class, and how this experience has provided me with far more than any educational benefit. I understand that who I am, in terms of what I myself brought to the experience, is important here. In a very real sense, I was completely prepared to be influenced. My cultural background, in a word, has me as less aggressive than most American students I observe. As a Chinese girl, I have been raised to be respectful, always, and to appreciate the attentions of teachers and those older than myself. It is a kind of reflex of courtesy, I believe, and I would never seek to be different. Nonetheless, I am also aware that this courtesy may be abused, when the circumstances of learning are not as they should be. I am as open to the unhappy or badly motivated teacher as I am to the one committed to teaching, and I regret that I have had some experience with the former.

It is then all the more wonderful to me that I should have had the good fortune to be a part of this class. In all honesty, the quality of it was not immediately apparent to me. At first, I performed and behaved as I always do: passively, and with my automatic inclination to do well in place. What evolved, however, was to me a kind of unfolding of more than one exceptional thing. The excellence of the teaching itself, on one level, did precisely what good teaching is meant to do. It expanded my thinking in such a way as to comprehend how exploring writing – and research – is a living and exciting process, and that how I interact within it further widens my thinking. This came to me in a subtle and slow way, and not as an actual realization. The effect, however, has been to make me feel inexpressibly grateful.

Connected to this benefit of learning is the less definable regard it created within me for my teacher. It is easy to employ standard words of “committed,” “integrity,” and “caring” in such a case; it is more difficult to express, and even know, how these qualities render the learning experience what it is. The lady I have been privileged to have as a teacher in this class is all of that, and more. Her character and presence reinforced the beauty of learning in a way I cannot possibly define. I am not even certain that I ever before associated beauty with learning, yet the association is now clear to me. All I can know is the total effect she has had on me, and only by virtue of being who she is and teaching as she does. People often remember great teachers all their lives, I know, because the impact is just that lasting and profound. I am sure that I will join their company in this, having been inspired by a truly remarkable woman.

It is a strange thing to be given something exceptional, and in a way beyond how rarely it occurs in life. That is to say, and reflecting back on my initial dilemma, a formula seems to be in play: the greater the gift, the greater the challenge in expressing any real sense of its worth. I am aware that, on one level, I am merely trying to put into words a proper appreciation for a superlative teacher and class. At the same time, however, I am aware as well that such things, when truly, extraordinary, provide some of the most meaningful experiences we can know. The gift is inestimable. It is lifelong. It is then almost comic that all I may do is seek to sort out the realities, acknowledge as best I can the inexpressible sense of appreciation within me, and say, with humility and the utmost honesty: thank you.