As I walked into the classroom on just my third day of teaching this semester, two girls, Sophia and Puja, ran towards me with open arms, embraced me, and whispered, “we missed you!” I was so surprised; I was just hoping they would remember my name after the first week, let alone miss me! Their admiration gave me confidence as a teacher, and made me even more excited to connect and build relationships with all of my students over the course of the semester. It was the best way to start my day, which turned into the best way to start my week.