Letter from Mark to Yasushi

October 8, 2008

Dear Dr. Yasushi Ota,

First of all, I would like to thank you for sponsoring our class. Your generosity is much appreciated since many of us are inspired to study harder. Thank you so much. I also apologize for the very late thank you letter.

I am Mark Jayson Lao, 4th year BS Mathematics student in UP Diliman. Dr. Yoshifumi Takenouchi has been my teacher for two semesters now. He was my professor this year and last year under the same subject - Math 122 (Differential Equations and Applications).

It’s really great when people get second chances to redeem themselves. I’m really ashamed to admit but I got a grade of 5.00 during my first take of Math 122 (which basically means I failed the course). So getting a book (entitled “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman) from you really boost my confidence in my academic endeavour. It just shows that in life, when you fail, you can always stand up and continue fighting again. I can’t thank you enough. This gift means a lot to me.

During my first take of the said subject under Sir Yoshi, I was really lazy and did not have the motivation to study. I just want to rest and take everything lightly. Because of this attitude, I failed Math 122 and two other math subjects.

That was back then when I was immature and didn’t have plans in life yet. But now, during my second try for passing the same course, I even got a reward for being in the top. I myself can’t believe it since my first exam results was not that high. I really wasn’t expecting to be in the top. I got the book by being in the top 14 of the class during the second exam. And because of that, I was even more inspired to study harder for the third exam.

Sir Yoshi is truly a great teacher. He encourages his students to do their best all the time. He uses up-to-date instructional materials; he gives us exercises typed in LaTeX (which is not at all easy to do. But maybe to him, it is); and he even includes readings about recent events that relate to mathematics one way or the other. Even though there is a language barrier, he still tries his best to make us understand what the lessons are about. In fact, when I asked him regarding a certain topic I cannot clearly comprehend, he explained everything instead of just answering that specific question. That’s how dedicated and hardworking Sir Yoshi is. I’m really glad that he became my teacher.

Again, thank you very much for your kindheartedness. I hope you bring more joy to other people and I also wish you happiness in all you do.

Sincerely yours,
Mark Jayson Lao