For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, an open letter is a letter written for a specific person but intended for publication, so I will be writing this article addressing the New York Times bestselling author and prominent YouTuber John Green, asking him to come speak at my school, despite the fact that I realize he will likely never actually see this.

Dear Honorary Doctor Green,
You should come speak at my school. I kind of just wanted to end this letter there, but then I figured that sounded a bit like a command and I should probably say please, so: You should come speak at my school, please. We’re a little far away from Indianapolis, but it only takes about 28 days to walk from Indianapolis to here. And, you know, with new inventions like planes and cars it would probably take a lot less time to actually get here.

For the past few months, it seems like everyone and their sister has been carrying around a copy of The Fault in Our Stars. Its bright blue cover has popped up in classrooms, on my class lawns, in hallways and stairways, and in basically every other corner of our hallowed halls; as well it should. The Fault in Our Stars is an insightful, moving book that is just as likely to make someone laugh as it is to make someone sob. But of course, you’ve heard that before. You’ve probably also heard that Looking for Alaska was one of the best debut novels from a Young Adult novelist in the past decade or so, but there are some things that should be repeated. From An Abundance of Katherines to Paper Towns, all of your books are must-reads for anyone who wants to think about their world in a different way and for any teen who ever feels lost in a sea of uncertainties. One day, Looking for Alaska will be listed next to Catcher in the Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower as one of the definitive books on the adolescent mind. You may be wondering what any of this has to do with you coming to speak at my school. Honestly, I started to go off on a bit of a tangent there, but we the students understand your books and could really benefit from hearing your perspective on the characters’ opinions, on author’s intent, and just on literature in general. And we promise not to ask about what happens to the characters after the book ends, even though I’m sure a lot of us would really like to know.

Here at my school, many of us don’t only love your books, but the YouTube channel you run with your brother Hank, the Vlogbrothers, as well. Although I won’t go so far as to say that like half of the student body are Nerdfighters, there is still a surprising amount of us roaming around campus. Some of us have been subscribed to your channel for years, others for months, but all of us Nerdfighters appreciate your intelligent and amusing content. Nerdfighters have donated over $480,000 this year alone through your annual fundraiser the Project for Awesome to charities like This Star Won’t Go Out and Kids in Need of Desks, and if you came to my school we could all learn a lot about how the internet can be used to decrease world suck and connect hundreds of thousands of people in a true community. Speaking of Vlogbrothers, congratulations on surpassing one million subscribers!

Now it might sound like I’m kidding, but I’m being completely serious. I’ve heard teachers talking about how much they would love for you to speak at my school. I’ve heard students talking about how much they would love you to speak at my school. We’d all really love it if you came to speak at my school.

DFTBA (Don’t Forget to be Awesome),
Kristy