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Dear Mrs. Carter,

As a fellow married woman going back to school because I have always wanted to be a teacher, I applaud you for even just thinking about going to school. It is so easy to get stuck in a rut, going about your daily routine and feel as though your life has little purpose. It is in that regard, that I feel you and I are very similar. I know you are not totally convinced about going to to school so I hope that this letter will serve as a persuasion or provide you with some encouragement to pursue your dreams.

First of all, let me tell you that learning as an adult is incredibly rewarding and powerful. When I was younger and first out of High School it was expected that you go onto college/university whether you were a man or woman, good student or poor student. So, after graduating, I went off to university where I found myself choosing the easiest path to graduation, one that would allow me to spend more time out with friends socializing than studying; and socialize I did. Now, as an adult learner, I am rewarded in so many ways because I doing it for me and am also pursuing a career that I have always had a passion for.

I would also like to tell you to please share your hopes, dreams, and thoughts with you family, your neighbors, and your friends. I do not think, actually I know, I would not be as successful and driven if it were not for the support of my friends and family. Life is too short to be constantly afraid of what others might say about your or think about you. If we spent more time going after what we wanted instead of living in fear, think of how much more we could accomplish in this world and in our lifetime.

Friends are your life-line; it is part of what makes you, you. I was fortunate enough to spend this past weekend with some dear friends who live away and who I do not get to see that often. I realized that I would not be who I am today without these friends in my life. I feel as though I can share anything with them, good or bad, and that no matter what, they will always be there for me. A friends brother used a term, that while maybe not totally appropriate, truly resonated with me. We were all talking about friends, he about his buddies and called one of them his "mexican" friend. He was not saying that his friend was Mexican, he was simply saying that if he was stranded wherever, be it five miles or five thousand miles, this friend would hop on a plane or car and come to his rescue and vice versa. His comment made me think of my friends and of those would there be any who would come to my aid no matter how near or far. I quickly realized that yes, I do have friends who would come help me out if in a bind whether I was around the corner or half way around the world. It saddens me because I do not think that you have those kind of friends or even those type of close friendships. I hope that one day you will get to experience friendship as I have.

Please go to school and pursue your dream and stop worrying about what others might say or think. Think of what a great example you would be to your children and to other women who want to go after their dreams but are fearful and less confident than you. You have the opportunity to create a movement in which other women can go after life and get out of the house. You have the opportunity to show them that it is never too late to go to school or to do anything and that women should not be confined to the stereotypical role of "keeper of the house."

I wish you all the best with whatever the future may hold for you.

Sincerely,

Brittany Pines