Below is the text of the letter Zach Swan wrote to himself in late November, 2005, 10 months after he was diagnosed with cancer and a few months before he earned his degree.
Zach, a Dunsmuir High School graduate, died in April of 2010 and recently won Comcast's All-Star Teacher award based on internet voting.
This letter arrived at his family's home in Dunsmuir just days before his mother Maribeth Dunn and sister Emma Swan were presented the Comcast award during a ceremony at AT&T Park in San Francisco prior to the San Francisco Giants' game on July 28, 2010.
Dear Zach (or whoever reads this instead)
I am writing myself a letter that is to be sent five years from now. This letter is to remind me of how I felt about education as I finished Edu 418 one semester before graduating (finally).
To me, education is a beautiful thing. When minds are young they are at their most vulnerable and moldable points.
Impressions can be made and left very easily and it is important as a teacher, coach, educator, to leave a powerful and lasting impression.
These students are all born innocent and full of promise. And although some are born into better situations than others, they all have potential to be great.
As an educator I am a mentor. I have the power to gear young people towards a future of interest and the will to succeed and I have the power to discourage and discount their efforts.
It is important to be as positive and constructive as possible because the will of a young person can be strengthened or broken in my classroom.
It is important to remember to try to be fair and unbiased while realizing that not all students or athletes are created equal.
My job as an educator is to find the strengths of the student and help them build from there, rather than allow their weaknesses or setbacks to bring them down.
It is important to be a positive role model and to be as consistent as possible, Stand by your word and lead by example not by mouth.
Love and respect yourself for what you bring to the world of your peers and students and live each day as it could be your last.
At the end of the day ask yourself if your life ended tonight, how content would you be with yourself after your final day.
If you aren’t happy at the end of the day forgive yourself and strive to make the following day better in every way if it should come.
I hope I am still alive to read this letter to remind me of why I want to teach, coach, train, mentor, etc. But if I am not, please think of my words as simply a way of thinking and living as it was for me in 2005 when my future on earth was uncertain.
I realize that I am not perfect and need to be reminded of these things daily, but when I do think of them and end the day on a happy note, the world seems bright and my heart is full.
Zach Swan
Nov. 28, 2005
