Photo: YouTube / WestJet
A letter to her older self
Twenty years ago, Bruce Farrer gave his students a very inspiring homework assignment. Their true value is only now revealed.
How would we have reacted at school when our teacher gave us the task of writing a ten-page letter to our 20 years older self ? Probably with a loud groan. First of all, writing such a letter is a lot of work. It was probably not the same thing for the 14-year-old student of Canadian Bruce Farrer when he gave them exactly this task. It would take a few years for the students to discover that their teacher would not burden them with this task, but would give them a great gift.
When Bruce Farrer promises his students 20 years ago not only to pick up their letters, but even to send them to them, many of the young people probably do not believe him. Why should he go to all that effort just for a homework assignment?
But Bruce Farrer keeps his word. This year, he begins to track down his former students and send them their letters. Some letters he even personally. At the bottom of the video, Bruce Farrer reveals that he had to become a kind of detective to track down all of his former students. Many do not live near anymore. But it is precisely this development that fascinates Farrer so much. He finds it exciting to find out where all the young people he used to know live today and what paths they took as adults.
He makes his students an unexpected gift by delivering their letters. They feel as if they read the ten handwritten pages in another time. A former student says, "Reading this letter was an emotional rollercoaster ride for me." Another man admits that he did not expect what this homework could really do: "I thought he just wanted to spend the time with this task and keep us busy so he can do other things, but honestly that's the job pretty brilliant, it means looking back and remembering who you once were. "
Bruce Farrer's students are more than grateful for what he has given them through this one mission. For the now 72-year-old pensioner, this is not a big deal. He believes that he has just done his job and describes himself as a "normal teacher".
He sends each year again the letters of another class. Whenever the 20 years are over, he turns to a new course. The idea of having his students write a letter to their older self came to Bruce Farrer at the beginning of his career as a teacher. In all his years of work he will have accumulated so many letters. But he has made sure not to stop sending the letters, until the last of them has not found back to its rightful owner. So much dedication and enthusiasm is not only impressive, but also very inspiring.
