Another Person on My Path

God puts people on my path and invites me to take a walk with them. Last weekend, I talked with a friend about the feeling that my life has had limited significance, with no expectation that anything profound has come of it. I was referring to Judge Sotomayor, whose life had a rocky beginning but appears to be headed for a stunning ending: she’s been a student, a low-level legal employee; a lawyer; a judge; and now sits on the Supreme Court. It’s not that my life has been marked with “just” accomplishes—I’m just a teacher; just a mother; just a friend—but that there is little significant accomplishment to add to that. You know, the ta-da at the end of the event.

Well, when you voice those feelings, Someone hears them and responds.

This past week I received a phone call from a former student from w-a-a-a-y back in the day, a student with whom I’ve maintained contact since the 1980s. He has lived an incredibly diverse life, some of which is directly tied to his enrollment in a GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) class for which I was the teacher. The students were academically gifted, but had lots of creative energy that was going untapped, even though the majority of them were also heavily involved in student activities. One day, as I was gushing about live theatre, a student asked me just what’s so great about a live performance? I responded that you won’t know until you’ve experienced it. He said, “Well, then, let’s do a play.”

Of course we discussed the challenges of that goal, as well as the logistics: I believe that if students want it, they have to do it. I have no problem with canceling any student event that is dumped into the teacher’s or parent’s lap. Thus, if they began it, they would finish it. Of course we developed a strategical plan: if nothing else, I am a planner. Before I walk into the classroom, I have the entire semester planned (not set in stone, but planned). After a week-long discussion of the pros and cons of the endeavor, and after my promise to provide any support within my means, I handed over $75 from my wallet and said, “Let’s do this.”

It was the first play at the high school–ever—and it kicked some serious ass. I served as the director because someone had to occupy that title, but the students put on the performance. Other teachers became involved here and there, curious about how we were going to pull this off. Of the plays I offered the students as possibles, they selected Arsenic and Old Lace, and you can’t go wrong with that little gem. Long story short: it was one of the crowning moments of my career, but also the start of careers for some of those students!

Last week’s phone call updated me on some of the students who shared that theatrical experience with the two of us and then turned to his current acting career; yes, he’s a card-carrying professional actor, a career that began on our high school stage. His acting coach is a well-known “old-timer” from back in the day who has written a book on acting and needs someone to gently edit it. As my former student explained to me, “It’s a great book, but the skills need [my] guidance.”

I talked to the author directly, assured him that I would not change, just enhance, his manuscript, and that I would be delighted to accept this job as a favor to my former student. When the author felt that he had to give me something for my trouble, I told him that he can write a check to one of the charities I support in the Valley: they need the money to help people who need their services.

The deal struck, he sent me the manuscript.

Yep, He put people into my path and it’s been a delightful experience. The manuscript is an incredible teaching tool for others to learn about life skills, using acting as the vehicle to achieve what we all want in/from our lives. Of course, being the somewhat inwardly-turned person that I am in my personal life, I benefited from reading about how actors have to bring all that past experience to the forefront of their lives and use it to be the character they are playing. I can do that in my teaching, but I’ve never been able to do that in my life – which reflects back to the conversation with my friend about lacking the feeling of significance in my life. I have never been able to accept the old teaching saw that if I reach just one student each year, I have done my job well: one is not a number high enough for me.

If/when the author of the book publishes it, I’ll tell you his name and the title so you can look for it at Amazon dot com or one of the bookstores in the mall. Right now, he’s pinched for time to print some working copies of it as one of his former students is going to preview it in an acting class she teaches.

The chain of teacher/student stands strong, which is, perhaps, the significance of my life.