Unfortunately some of my favorite students graduated yesterday. This is Yui Miyazaki. She is one of my proudest "Dangerous Minds" moments. I was first introduced to her by a former English teacher at my school. He told me she was delinquent and beyond hope. The first test or hers I ever marked was completely blank except for "Fuck you you stupid bitch" written in big letters. She looked and acted pretty tough and rarely came to class. Being a sucker for the bad kids, I decided to lure her into my grasps through hip hop. I made her a CD of bad ass English gansta rap and made sure to always smile and be nice to her in the hall. The change was almost immediate. She started coming to class and saying hi to me in the halls. She's been my little buddy ever since. Her English is actually really good and she writes me letters about music and how she wants to be a mechanic. Her mom came up to me after the grad ceremony and thanked me making the CD for Yui and being so nice to her. That was great. I'm gonna miss her.