Miss You Dad...

We know that J will never get the chance to know his grandpa which is a sad reality Daniela and I are both dealing with.  But we decided to post this here so that one day J will at least get the opportunity to see that while grandpa didn't have the chance to influence his life, he's still around helping others...

Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 2:44 PM
To: Mitchell, Paul V.
Subject: Jim Harp Contact Information

Hello Mr. Mitchell,

I graduated from Colonial High School about four years ago. Today, I am trying to find Mr. Harp. He used to teach computer programming Colonial High School in the IT Magnet program. I see that he is no longer working for the school. Is there anyway you would have his contact information? Mr. Harp inspired and helped me get to where I am today, so I just wanted to get in touch with him to say Thank You.

Hope you can help me.

Sincerely,
Jorge E. Arias


Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 7:26 AM
From: Mitchell, Paul V.
Subject: Re: Jim Harp Contact Information

Thanks for saying that about Mr. Harp. I am sorry to tell you that he passed away. He was a valued teacher.

Dr. Paul V. Mitchell
Principal Colonial High School
407.482.6300


Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 11:33 AM
To: Mitchell, Paul V.
Subject: Re: Jim Harp Contact Information

Mr. Mitchell,

This is sad. I hoped to be able to say Thank You to him one day. I guess I will need to wait.

In his class, he really encouraged and helped those who were interested in programming. He helped me get an internship at Loews Hotels IT Department through the IT Magnet program at CHS. I was the first student to do the internship. He also tried to get the students involved with the Robotics Team. Because of my involvement (and his recommendation letter), I received a very sweet 10k/yr (40k total) scholarship at FloridaTech for participating in the FIRST Robotics competition during high school. He helped me select a university. In fact, he recommended me to go to an expensive university like FloridaTech (where I was actually going to LEARN), instead of taking the easy path by going to a cheaper school like Devry (which some of your faculty heavily recommend because of the lower cost). I am very glad I followed all of his advices. Today I am doing research on Distributed Systems, Software Testing, and Financial Modeling at Florida Tech as I work on my Masters degree. I've published 1 journal article and I am currently working on trying to publish a second one. I'm also working on a thesis based on my research. I recently started an internship with General Electric as a Software Engineer.

I really thank Mr. Harp for all the advises and encouragement he gave me. He did not look at the fact that I was an foreign student with very little knowledge of the English language. I now feel he really wanted to end his days giving hope to students and helping them build a better than mediocre future. I feel blessed because I am here because of him.

Mr. Mitchell, I hope you are encouraging today's students, american and foreign, to surpass mediocrity.

Its hard to explain how he encouraged me. All I can say is that Mr. Harp was an excellent professor. He made a difference. I wish there were more like him.

Sincerely,
Jorge E. Arias
Software Engineering '10
Florida Institute of Technology