Dear Coach,

As I mentioned, I am taking two criminal justice classes this summer at Arundel Community College.

The one class is entitled "Introduction to Criminal Justice" and the last week, we watched one for the FBI.  A large of portion of the video is dedicated to one of the inherent risks that an agent may well face; namely, getting shot.

One of the clips was a reading of a speech one the deceased agents had a framed copy of on his wall and used to tell people that it made him a better agent.

Though I doubt you are actually wondering what speech I could be referring to...here it is

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

---Theodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

I am not amazed when things you taught me as 9-10 year old child come back to me, as the things you taught were, and still are, common sense lessons that build character. I am above all hopeful that the children you touch today will also carry these lessons with them for rest of their lives.

Take care--- Victoria
Thanks so much for everything you have done for me and my family and the entire neighborhood for that matter.