Dear Dr. Baldwin – my thank you letter to a teacher as part of the UNFUCD movement

UNFUC’ing the world with positivity

The UNFUCD movement was developed to create happiness, one day at a time. The idea is, in a world inundated with bad news, more positivity needs to be acknowledged. As part the movement, the following letter was written for the “Thank a Teacher” mission, which encourages everyone to pen a letter letting a former (or present) instructor know the impact he or she had on your education, and your life.

Dear Dr. Baldwin,

While I was, admittedly, not the most participatory student in two classes I took with you, I do feel that you should know the effect you had on my education. Despite the fact that I had your classes at the highest point of my senioritis, I was still able to take a decent amount of knowledge away from you. Obviously that knowledge started with learning about communication in both intercultural and intergenerational frameworks.

However, I think that your role as a professor transcended the classroom.

I was always impressed with how much time and energy you point toward your classes, particularly when giving feedback for assignments. Not only did it help improve our writing and retention, but it is clear that you truly want your students to succeed and learn which translates to so much more.

In addition, the fact that you went the extra mile to make the classes interactive with activities and panels created a learning experience that will stay with me, and I’m sure most of your students, for a long time. Especially the panel you provided in our aging class where you invited older members of the community to come speak. I think many people have a tendency to write people off as they age, but this panel showed the significance of life-long learning. And, at the end of the day, that is the largest benefit you provided as a professor.

It is clear that you yourself are a life-long learner and, by sharing your life experiences, you have inspired me to never stop learning (even though my academic career is over for now.) So, even though I may not have been the most communicative communication student that ever walked through Fell Hall, I would like to extend a sincere “thank you” for providing such a thriving and inspiring learning environment.

Thank you,

Taylor Leddin
Class of 2016

#UNFUCD