Teacher receives a heartfelt message from former pupil after 20 years: 'This is what we do it for'

It is always great to have a guardian figure or a teacher believe in us even when no one else does. There are certain kind-hearted teachers who encourage their pupils to live their dreams and pursue their career of choice even if the odds seem to be against them. Sometimes, such educators leave such an impact on the lives of their pupils that they are remembered by everyone till the end of their time. One such teacher from the U.K. got a pleasant surprise in the form of a message from a former pupil he taught 20 years ago.

Mark Dent, who is an executive head teacher at the Cambrai Primary School in Catterick Village, shared the heartfelt message from his former pupil with the Twitter community and the post went viral with over one million views. The unnamed student tracked down Dent after two decades and thanked him for something he said all those years back and how it shaped the pupil's future.

"About 20 years ago you told me at a parent's evening I should do something in science as I clearly love it. I graduated in marine biology and just got a job offer today as a microbiologist technologist at GSK. You are the first person to find out as you’re the first person I thought of weirdly. It’s really stuck with me all those years and I’d just like to say thank you, you were right. Have a good day mate," the text message read.

"Today I was tracked down by an ex-pupil and received this message. The moment I read this, I burst with pride and emotion. This is what we do it for, fellow teachers," Dent wrote in the tweet as he shared a screenshot of the text. This moved fellow netizens to pour in and share their own sweet memories with teachers from their school or college days as well.

One netizen who seemed to know Dent personally replied to his tweet with yet another surprise. "Hello, Mr. Dent. Remember Felix? He’s at the Royal College of Music now. You are indeed an inspiration," @CarolBloomfie11 wrote, sharing a picture of a boy holding a guitar.

The pleasantly surprised head teacher replied in a follow-up tweet which read: "Oh my goodness! Yes!! So proud!! That’s now twice I’ve cried today! Such a talented boy. Please, give him my best wishes and congratulations." Dent is surely fortunate enough to have such talented pupils who remember his contribution to their lives and how it helped them achieve their goals.

@LauraWi49678825 shared her thoughts as well and wrote: "I’ve been at GSK for 24 years, as has the girl who sat next to me in Chemistry, at the kind of school where most left at 16. I often think of our fabulous teacher, Mr. King, who sadly died before we graduated. So I’ll say thanks to you instead, for inspiring our new colleagues!"

Dent's tweet prompted several netizens in the comment section to reveal that they will try to track down their former teachers as well to thank them. We sincerely hope these students can reunite with their former teachers to share a few words and how much these educators mean to them and how they are the unsung heroes who are responsible for shaping our society too.