Sex Ed.

Today at work, while I was performing alienated labor (I work in the MTC dish room), I kept thinking about my health teacher in Middle School.  In a nutshell, we didn't like each other very much.  I thought she was shallow and not very intelligent, and I'm pretty sure she knew I thought that.  

Sometimes I write my favorite teachers/professors letters at the end of the year to show my appreciation for their hard work, etc.  If they were good teachers, I feel like I should let them know, because I do notice and care.  Only once have I written to a bad teacher, and it was for the same reasons.  I felt like she should know, because I definitely noticed, and I definitely cared.

And that's how we get back to the subject of my health teacher. 

At the end of my senior year in high school I wrote her a letter.  I probably shouldn't post it, but I'm going to anyway.

Dear Mrs. alkejhfkasjdhfkjs,

    I’m sure you don’t remember me, or one of the conversations we had back in 7th grade when you were my health teacher.  We had been learning about HIV/AIDS and how to avoid the disease.  This of course connects to the discussion of sex.  I’ll admit, I can’t fully recall the dialogue that led us to our disagreement, but the class was discussing ways to prevent AIDS. People mentioned safe sex and things like that, but I bluntly said that I wasn’t going to sleep around.  We had learned about abstinence from the guest teacher, but you gave off the feeling that this wasn’t possible.  When I told you that I was going to wait till marriage, you told me that I should come back once I finished high school and tell you how that went.  I can still remember the anger I felt when you said those words and I did say that I would come back.  Even though I was only thirteen, I had already made the decision that I was going to wait.  I was naive, and I didn’t know how hard it would be, but I knew that you were wrong.  I was mad at the time, but as I grew, so did my anger because I realized what kind of damage your words could have had on me.  If I hadn’t been so strong in my decision, your words could have discouraged me.  What kind of adult tells a thirteen year old that she most likely won’t be able to stay abstinent?
    Though the majority of people don’t wait till marriage, you had no right to say those words.  I just graduated from Medina High School yesterday, and I am a virgin.  It’s not because I’m ugly or a social outcast; it’s because I made a choice at that young age and I know that it’s worth it.  I have plenty of friends who have made the same decision as me, yet I know many won’t make it through college without slipping up.  I’m not ignorant to reality, but I know - just like I did in seventh grade - that my husband will be my first.
    I hope you change your attitude and approach towards future classes.  Preteens are easily influenced and they need to be guided by wise adults.
 

Sincerely,

Kristen Oda

P.S.  I was voted best looking female in my graduating class.

As a disclaimer, Lily told me to include the post script.  I think it added a nice touch to the end.  But this is pretty heavy stuff, right?  Every time I think back to that conversation, I still get so mad.  It baffles me that she had the nerve to say with a smirk, "Well, come back once you've graduated high school and tell me how that worked out." All I could reply was, "Ok, I WILL."

I knew my mind would go blank and I'd end up missing some key points if I said it to her face, so I wrote her a letter instead. Well guess what.  She actually wrote me back.  This is the card she used.

I'm still not sure if she only had access to ugly cat stationary, or if she purposely picked the ugliest card she could find in spite of me, but either way, that's one unsightly feline.  Her first mistake was writing back, because she can't write.  She wrote in pencil and made at least two grammatical mistakes.  And the worst part: She didn't apologize.  All she did was give some lame excuse about how she wanted to give "students a more realistic perspective."  I JUST WANTED HER TO APOLOGIZE.  Maybe I was being too sensitive, but even if I had been wrong, she should have apologized for offending me.

But alas, all I got was an ugly card with bad grammar and stupid excuses.  And yes, I'm still a virgin by choice.  Maybe I'll write her another letter the day I get married to let her know "how it worked out."