Following my dreams of becoming a pilot (see yesterday's blog), I finally settled on the idea that I would be a lawyer. Credit my many hours watching LA Law (probably not the most appropriate show for a kid my age, but whatever). I could just see myself as a high powered attorney in my designer suits, and high heeled shoes, making all the guy lawyers look like idiots. It was my dream job, to get paid to argue! So I went through high school and most of college with that career path in mind. Then, one afternoon, my whole world changed. I stopped in to see the professor of my summer school class. As a transfer student, he wasn't familiar with me and my background. He invited me to sit down as he pulled up my transcripts. When he asked what I planned to do after graduation I told him law school. "Oh no," he said, "There are way too many lawyers in the world. Have you ever thought about graduate school?" So, three hours later, head spinning, I walked out of his office with a whole new life plan. That afternoon, my professor changed my life. He was one in a long line of teachers to do so.
I took that professor's advice and went to graduate school. Several years later I became a professor myself. I never thought in a million years that I would be a teacher. But that is my life. I spend my days lecturing to a (sometimes) captive audience and my nights grading endless papers. And while I don’t spend as much time in the classroom as grade school or high school teacher, I definitely live the teacher's life. One characteristic of that life is that you very rarely get to hear "good job," or God forbid, "thank you." It happened to me once. A student from my very first research methods class (which is a notoriously hated course) is now in graduate school at my alma mater. After she graduated, before leaving town, she came by my office and dropped off a card thanking me for all I had done for her. I cried. Seriously. And her card is hanging on my refrigerator. Two years later. So in reflecting on my almost 35 years to create this list, I thought it would be a good idea to reach out and express those sentiments to a teacher who has influenced my life. I know how rare it is to hear that kind of thing.
The hardest thing about this particular project was deciding who should get this letter. I have been supremely blessed in my education. The Anchorage School District, unlike many other public school systems (I have since learned) was fantastic. I had a stream of wonderful teachers; from Mr. Schmidt, my fourth grade teacher who I thought was an angel, to Mrs. Whitmore my seventh grade math teacher who showed me that I really wasn’t bad at math, to Mr. Berkow, my nutty twelfth grade psychology teacher who taught me that thinking was fun, to Mrs. Terry, my twelfth grade English/social studies teacher who taught me to look at my world through different eyes. And those are just a few. That doesn’t even include the college professors who helped shape me and my view of life. So picking just one person was really hard. I could write a stack of thank you letters.....but there are only so many hours in the day!! So I decided to write a letter to my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Coulter. I will get to her teaching in a second, but from the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew I would like her. She was SO COOL!!. She wore the greatest clothes (long flowing skirts and beaded necklaces) and had a trendy haircut. She was so much fun. She was the first really cool grown-up I had even met. And as a teacher, she was remarkable. Even though she was fun, she commanded respect and we all knew not to cross her. She was a great model of the kind of woman I wanted to grow up to be.
There isn't one particular incident that sticks out to me and really illustrates the impact that Mrs. Coulter made on me. But I know this: when I walked out of her classroom at the end of fifth grade I was not only more educated, but I was more confident, more self-assured, and more willing to take chances than ever before. Other teachers had told me I was smart. Mrs. Coulter made me believe it. She laid the groundwork for me becoming the kind of person who would change my career path junior year of college. The kind who would take a senior philosophy class as a freshman and believe that I could pass. Who would apply to two of the best graduate programs in the country with no back up school. More than an education, she gave me a belief in myself that has pushed me to reach for some awesome goals.
I have spent numerous hours counseling students on class selection, occupational choices, and life in general. I don’t know if most of them, when they leave me, remember what I said. But I think about the few times I have been lucky enough to hear "thank you" from my students and I remember the pride that those simple words elicit. And if I can do that for someone else, someone who inspired me and changed my life, well, that's a gift that I just have to give.
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