Dear Mr.Moudy,
The first time that we met was in my fifth-grade class at Osolo Elementary School. I had just transferred from Jimtown and I remembered they organized classes from the end of the hall to the beginning based on your ranking or ability in school. Jimtown didn’t transfer any papers with me, and so I was the lowest-rated kid in Ms. Delgado's all the way down the hallway. You had stopped in the room to talk to the class, but the other kids didn’t want to listen to any of it. The next time I remember was right after NWEA testing, I had the highest math score out of all the kids and was sent all of the way to Ms. Keaver’s classroom at the opposite end of the hallway. It was cowboy ethics day and you had given me a card and explained that these principles are to live by. I didn’t think much of the card at the time and tossed it into a folder of papers from that year. Little did I know that those ten listed ethics were going to be the virtues that my high school career would be based on. I had a lot going on at the time as my parents had just divorced and I moved into a new and strange house, but I always enjoyed it when you came around in class.
The summer before senior year I found myself once again in a strange and weird place in my life. I had to move out of my mother’s house and stay with my father. In the moving process, I found a red folder with a piece of paper on the front labeled “5th Grade” with my name at the bottom in the chicken scratch that was my handwriting. I went through the folder as I did with my others and there it was, the cowboy ethics card from so long ago. I decided to put the card in my filing cabinet for safekeeping. I know that I had seen you a few times between sophomore and junior year, but it was the senior year we mostly connected. It was mostly because I wanted to hear your words of wisdom, and I was the new president of FFA at the time. At the time, I was struggling to restart the FFA club while readjusting to my new surroundings on top of preparing for college, but you showed me opportunities and pushed me to be the leader that I was meant to be. That even though I had my next move planned out in my head, it always felt better to hear a perspective that I trust on any given matter.
In the end, I achieved almost every goal that I had set for myself, even the ones that seemed so far out of reach. I’m content with my high school career and even more content that you were a part of it. I want to thank you for believing and investing in me Mr. Moudy.
Sincerely,
Joey Attkisson