A captive audience
When I was a kid, there were all kinds of things I wanted to be when I grew up. From fighter pilot to baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers to singer, actor, dancer, writer, surfer … you name it, I wanted to be it.
As I got older, I realized some occupations — such as a fighter pilot or baseball player — were totally unrealistic for me. I was a little bitty girl, not all that athletic and I had motion sickness. One flip or flying upside down in a plane traveling hundreds of miles per hour would totally end my career. And girls couldn’t play on professional male teams.
All the other dreams, like riding the wild surf, were unattainable, too. We lived in the middle of Kansas when I wanted to be a surfer and the prairie was far away from any ocean. Those dreams were squelched, but I never missed the old “Wide World of Sports” when the surfing championships were shown. I had dreams of standing on a board and skimming down some huge wave whooping and hollering.
I grew up and moved on to college majoring in English and Drama. This is where I built up my stage acting skills under the tutelage of John Welton, drama professor extraordinaire. I learned so much from him from acting techniques to building a set. I also learned from him that the ability to capture a character in a play is an innate talent. When we talked about me being a star on Broadway … another of my dreams … he told me I had the ability, but he pointed out all the walls I would be up against.
Would I be willing to sacrifice my principles to try to break into that field? I lived a sheltered life. He suggested another profession that he felt I would do well in and be happy … to become a teacher. That intrigued me. I used to pretend I was a teacher and set up all my stuffed animals and dolls on my bed to teach them reading, spelling, even math. I didn’t have to fuss at them or tell them to settle down or “sign off” as one of my teachers told me on a regular basis. They couldn’t speak and were pretty much a captive audience.
So, I followed his suggestion and added some education courses to my already full list of subjects. My mother and father were thrilled with my final choice of careers although my love of acting stayed with me. Eventually, I joined a Little Theatre group. No, I didn’t become a star on Broadway, but I did have the opportunity to be in some wonderful plays throughout the years. They filled a need.
So did teaching. I started out teaching 8 th grade English at a junior high school in a small Northwest Georgia town. I loved teaching those kids who are now in their sixties and some are grandparents. Later, I taught sixth grade, preschool, high school, and for the last 20+ years of my career taught adults at The Calhoun Adult Learning Center associated with the local technical college. It was a match made in heaven. These students were special. They had left school to work, help their families, or because they became disillusioned with their educational experience.
No matter, they pulled themselves up by the bootstraps and became determined to finally get that high school diploma and move on in their lives. And during that time, I met some extraordinary people. An older gentleman’s son brought him to the center so that he could learn to read. He wanted to read the Bible, but also wanted to be able to read to his grandchildren. He had never been to school but had worked in the fields since he was six or seven.
We started with the alphabet and moved on to vocabulary words, sight words, and before too long, he was reading books. In a few months he was reading on a sixth grade level. This is when he told me he had learned enough. He could read a book to his grandchildren and read passages out of the Bible every night. “I’ve done what I planned to do. It’s time to go fishing.”
One lady wrote a beautiful essay. Another young man studied, got his GED, went on to college and started his own business. Another student became my “right hand man”, so to speak. After she passed her GED, I was able to hire her and even after I retired almost 10 years ago, she is still at that front desk.
From my very first students fifty years ago to my last in Adult Education, I am so proud of so many. These students made my life whole even if they were a captive audience.