The Young Witch Says Goodbye

Dear students,

Hey everyone! I know it has been a while since I was able to see and be with you in classes. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss seeing you, talking with you and working with you and not it’s not just because I’m currently self-isolating alone. I miss you all so desperately. Finding out that we wouldn't be coming back to school in April was devastating because I wouldn’t be able to see you all again.

I know some of you enjoy hearing stories from me. I miss telling you all them, so here’s mine. A year and a half ago now, I was accepted to serve a year with City Year in San Jose. I was so excited because it meant that I officially had a job. I was also completely terrified. I was going to a place I had never seen, a place I had only ever heard about on the news and on the serial killer podcasts my mom likes to listen to (the 60s and 70s were not a good time for murder). I can not tell you exactly how many times my mom would freak out when we were listening to said podcasts after I got the job saying, “My baby’s going to killed by a serial killer,” which once I moved out here turned into, “Well, she has a tattoo now, so we can at least identify the body.”

But this was only a part of it. I was terrified to come to a place where I knew no one and I had no idea if anyone would come to like me at all. These fears fed in me for months. I couldn’t eat anything my first night in San Jose because of how the anxiety was eating me alive. My first thoughts were, at least it’s only a year.

Then service started and I got to officially meet you all. I got to see you work, I got to learn about you, I got to see your minds at work. The more time I got to spend with you all, the more that thought became I can’t believe I only get a year with them.

Through the hard times, when I was scared I wasn’t really helping, to the good times when I got to see the ideas and creativity flow into your assignments, I was so happy to be with you all and see you grow through your first year of high school.

I remember seeing Ms. Potter’s class work on first plot diagrams for fairy tales, and getting to see you make connections in stories and begin to truly get into them, even if you weren’t always paying attention in class. In Ms. Duran’s, seeing you learn about the world you live in and growing in your knowledge of who you are. Everyday was a new adventure and I was so sad to see it end early.

After my year is done, I will be going back to St. Louis as I continue to try and search for jobs. I’m going to miss San Jose and getting to see you all every day, but I know you all can and will go on to do amazing things. You have amazing teachers and people around you and you only have to reach out to ask for help.

However, if you should ever need me, I will try to be there. I’m leaving my personal email (which I try to check daily) with Ms. Potter and Ms. Duran, so that you can reach me if you need advice, want to talk about school, need a good story or just need a sounding board. I will always try to be there for you and will always think about my year with you all.

There are not enough words to describe my feelings of saying goodbye. So I will just say, I love you all, so, so much, and will miss you just as much.

Yours in love and service,

Aerin “Ariel” J. Johnson