language is the string that holds people together

The end of the school year brings many emotions. Seeing seniors off after teaching them since their freshman year, a perk of teaching a less commonly taught language in a big school, means many strong bonds are formed. If I'm fortunate, a couple of seniors take the time to pen a personal letter of gratitude. Here is one from this year from a particularly hard working and sincere young man whom I also traveled to Japan with last fall. @jyokota challenged me this week to reflect on why I teach, what motivates me - but she also asked a sub-question that I wanted to work on, namely, "What compels you to give up two weeks of your summer vacation to take 20 teenagers to Japan so you can continue to teach during your time off?" In response to her push, I focused on one part of the letter that expresses the deeper connection he made to language learning when he says, "I have come to reach a far greater understanding and appreciation for not only linguistics but humanity itself. Language is the string that holds people together. It is human communication and life." I blended an image for the kanji for "dream" that I created several years ago when I did a summer program in Japan. I wanted to blend my student's kind words with the character "dream" to portray the optimism of my student and the future he "dreams" about in his continued pursuit of deeper knowledge.

I was torn between two images, please take a moment and view it and let me know if one is more effective than the other.
http://365project.org/vankrey/or-this-one/2013-06-06

[Rick Schies]

What a special note of appreciation

[Marloes]

I just like this one the best. How great that you get such a letter of appreciation. Great symbolic pic. I love your composition and think that the balance between text and image is the best in this photo.

[Michael Van Krey]

@jyokota - addressing your sub-question, I think...

[Deni]

What a lovely story and avery interesting challenge which I think you have totally achieved the aims of, thank you for sharing your students thought provoking and kind words with us, and also the lovely images.Fav.

[Taffy]

Another beauty, Michael. I'm so impressed with this series.

[Daniel]

I prefer this one; the balance between the letter and the overlaid character is better. It is obvious from this series that you love your work, and it makes the series very special.

[Junko Y]

This is exactly what I was hoping to see . . . and I am feeling very inspired by your photos and narratives on why you (and I) are looking forward to spending more time with your students! I like how you superimposed something that shows what you learned on what they express as what they learned. Thank you for taking this challenge so seriously and doing such an extraordinary job!