The response to my short story Words Exchanged has been nothing short of phenomenal. The messages I have received have moved me beyond words, and my friends, family, colleagues and peers have championed my work in a way I never expected, bringing it to audiences it would have never reached without them.
A friend of mine approached me after reading my story and inquired about using it as a text in her High School Literacy Class. It was hard to think of a greater honour as a writer than having my work taught in a classroom, until she approached me again. This time with a document containing letters and reviews written to me by her students. To have my words used to teach is a privilege; to receive words in return that testify to a new generation taking heed and inspiration from my experiences is an indescribable honour.
I cannot share the letters the students have written to me because of school policy, but I would like to share the response I wrote back to them. I quote some of the students in my letter, but have used their initials to respect their privacy.
Dear Students of Ms Kang’s English Class,
“The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.”
- Baz Lurhmann (Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen)
“The moments that end up defining our lives and deaths are never the ones we expect. The moments that show us who we are, we rarely see coming.”
- Words Exchanged
"Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
- John Lennon
“You know you’re going to fail.
If you don’t take these pills, you’ll end up a failure.”
…
“He was wrong!”
-Words Exchanged
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”
- Robert Frost (Mending a Wall)
“…we’ll hunt him, because he can take it.”
- Christopher and Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight).
“It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
- J.K Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
“If we die, we die.”
- Words Exchanged
“It's alright to cry,
Even my dad does sometimes.
So don't wipe your eyes,
Tears remind you you're alive…”
- Ed Sheeran (Even My Dad Does Sometimes)
“I refuse to be another Statistic.”
- M.K.D. (Letter to A.H.)
“The big moments are going to come, you can’t help that.
It’s what you do afterwards that counts.”
- Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in letter from R.F. to A.H.).
“You don’t only live once, we live every day. We die once.”
- P.Q. (Letter to A.H.)
Words, sung in lyrics or spoken at the end of big movies, heard through closed doors or read in open books, letters and poems, spoken to us in difficult moments by people we love and sometimes those we end up hating, and ultimately the ones we say to ourselves… words are what end up defining who we are and our world views. So from the deepest corner of my heart I want to thank you all for yours and further thank you for reading mine.
Reading your words took me back to when I sat where you sit now. These letters and reviews silently ring with the words I now wish someone had told me then.
Being unsure of yourself is an integral part of growing up, even if you can’t see it now. Challenge yourself and continue to question who you are. If you feel lost now, it’s okay, that feeling will make you stronger, and in time you’ll find your tribe. Don’t focus on your mistakes and shortcomings, focus on the growth that can and will come out of them. The world belongs to those who are courageous enough to ask of it what they want. And never forget to cite your work.
If it weren’t for excellent educators like my mother or Ms Zilkey, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. One day you’ll look back and remember Ms Kang, and realize how much she really cared about you, her students. So don’t forget to thank her, and all those other teachers, inside or outside of school. Lastly, you’re never as old as you feel and you should never be late for class, work or a date, but the rest of life doesn’t work that way. Everything is always on time, waiting for you when it’s right.
So rumble, young men and women, rumble. And don’t forget to enjoy the process.