On Teachers Opening Doors

Yesterday I introduced my daughter to my favorite teacher, Ms. Scott, who taught this shy country girl and thousands of other high school students that the world is much bigger than this green Tongue River Valley we call home.  Ms. Scott's Humanities class exposed her students to history, literature, cultures, religion, art, and architecture from around the globe.  She increased the size of my world by millions of square miles.

I never liked going to school, and upon moving to Wyoming from Wyola, Montana, -Tongue River Junior/Senior High seemed huge- my social anxiety was so tremendous that classes like Speech, P.E., and Driver's Education filled me with nearly debilitating fear & dread.  Courses never interested me until Ms. Scott's Humanities class.  I found there was something besides art class that I could excel at and enjoy.  I loved her Creative Writing Class too, and I learned that it was possible to put words together like components in a painting.  Ms. Scott was also the Drama Director, and I joined drama my senior year.  Pretending to be someone else came naturally, as I'd been doing it in school all my life.  Drama helped me to overcome much of my social anxiety, and, ironically, helped me learn to be myself. (Note: I still sometimes resort to being someone else in social situations.)

Because of what Ms. Scott taught me in high school, I aced college courses in Humanities and Art Appreciation.  I was mistaken for a Humanities Teacher in Europe because of what I'd learned in her class nearly 20 years earlier.  In fact, I'd taken the trip to Europe at Ms. Scott's strict encouragement to do so. 

Ms. Scott's enthusiasm for her subjects was contagious- she instilled her knowledge and excitement into her students.  Decades later, my daughter was encouraged and excited to read the books they'd discussed in our short conversation.  Walking away, my daughter said, "Gin is amazing."  I wish she'd had more than ten minutes with this remarkable individual.

If I wasn't an artist, I would have liked to become a teacher like Ms. Scott, who truly loved what she was doing and made a difference in the lives of those she taught.  She still loves it and still makes a difference in people's lives.  I still live in this green little Tongue River Valley, but it's much smaller since high school, when Ms. Scott opened doors to help me step into & explore the world.