Dear colleagues, students, friends, and community members in Daugavpils,
As my time in Daugavpils comes to a close, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Daugavpils University, the City of Daugavpils, the Daugavpils Office of Education, the USA Information Center, and the many people who made this year such a meaningful professional and personal experience.
At Daugavpils University, I had the privilege of working with a wide range of students, faculty members, researchers, and community participants. I taught the Faculty and Researchers English course, the Community English course, the undergraduate course in Creative and Academic Writing, and the graduate course in Professional English for Intercultural Relations and Strategic Communication. I also greatly valued the office consultation sessions, especially the dedicated and hard-working core group that attended throughout the ten months. That group included Latvian students, international students, and members of the wider community, and their commitment, curiosity, and willingness to speak openly made those sessions one of the most rewarding parts of my work. I was also grateful for the opportunity to lead online seminars on public speaking and the use of AI in research. These sessions allowed me to connect with students, faculty, researchers, and community members in ways that extended beyond the regular classroom.

Throughout all of this work, I deeply appreciated the welcome, guidance, and ongoing support I received from Ilze Kačāne. I could not have had a successful experience without her help, patience, and steady support. I am also grateful to Dean Mārīte Kravale-Pauliņa for her encouragement, kindness, and good cheer throughout the year.

My work with the Daugavpils Office of Education was also very special to me. I had the opportunity to teach professional development courses for local teachers, including Teaching Writing and Presentation Skills for B1/B2 Learners and Speaking, Pronunciation, and Mixed-Level Teaching for Grades 5–9. These classes were memorable not only because of the content we covered, but because of the professional community that developed in the room. I appreciated the teachers’ openness, their thoughtful questions, their willingness to try new approaches, and the growth I saw in their confidence and classroom ideas. I would also like to thank Ilona Ustinova for taking care of me and for helping make this work possible.

The USA Information Center also came to hold a special place in my heart. I enjoyed every class, workshop, and public event I was able to teach there. It was especially meaningful to see people in the community, both teenagers and adults, develop their confidence in public speaking. Watching participants move from nervousness to clearer, stronger, and more confident communication was one of the great joys of my time in Daugavpils. Viktorija Cirse deserves special thanks for her warmth, professionalism, and support, and for helping create such a welcoming space for learning.

More broadly, I am grateful to the city of Daugavpils itself. This year gave me the chance to learn from a community shaped by many languages, cultures, histories, and personal stories. I came here to teach, but I also learned every day from my students, colleagues, and neighbors. I learned from their questions, their experiences, their humor, their resilience, and their generosity.

Thank you to everyone who welcomed me, attended a class, asked a difficult question, shared a story, helped organize an event, or simply made Daugavpils feel like a place where meaningful work could happen. I will leave with deep appreciation for the people I met here and for the community we built together. Thank you for the smiles you gave me and the connections that will live on in my heart long into the future. 

With sincere gratitude,
Matthew Joseph Walther