Sometimes teaching can be difficult and trying - like the students sleeping in my class today despite my best efforts to make the lecture interesting. However, every now and then you get some encouragement. Yesterday I received the following note from a student who took a course in Culture and Human Development for high school students:

Hi Xolo,
this is [Name Withheld] from your anthropology class this summerat [University Name Withheld]. I am currently taking an AP Psychology course and we just finished a unit on cognative development, where we had to design a preschool curriculum. I of course aced this project thanks to you. I learned so much in the summer about this and I loved reading Preschool in Three Cultures. I just wanted to thank you for making a great impact in such a short time and let you know that I learned things that I am putting to great use. I hope everything is well.

Thanks,
[Name Withheld]

A nice note like this one goes a long way. Thanks, [Name Withheld]!