[Stylist] A new prompt

[Vejas Vasiliauskas]

> 
> Hi Jackie, 
> I really enjoyed reading about your teacher and how inspirational he was.
> On another note: I found it very interesting that teachers still made home visits. I know that I'm considerably younger than you, but I thought that home visits were more of an 1800s and early 1900s phenomenon. 
Vejas 
>  
> 
> On 20 Oct 2019, at 15:56, Jackie via Stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Thanks to Annie. It is slightly different from her prompt. My goal was to
> keep it to one page, and to possibly send it to The Reader's Digest who has
> this feature regularly.
> Anyone want to join me? The Teacher Who Changed my Life  Jacqueline
> Williams, Oct., 2019
> The Teacher Who Changed My Life
> I was sixteen years old, a junior in Riverside Brookfield High School in
> Hollywood, Illinois. In spite of being active in athletics, and an excellent
> student, I was extremely shy, lacking in self-confidence and an introvert.
> When I was enrolled in Social Science class, my teacher, Mr. Thompson, asked
> the class to write their own philosophy of life. I loved the assignment, as
> I read a lot, had many ideas, and I challenged many traditional ideas,
> particularly about religion.
> He asked me to read my paper to the  class. I remember telling him that I
> would rather not do  so. I was petrified. He was a sensitive man, reassured
> me he would ask some others to read first. When it was my turn, I got up in
> front of the class, and was shaking so badly, that the paper in my hand
> shook and I could hardly read it. Regardless, he praised me and started a
> discussion of some of the ideas.
> In about a week, he asked if he could contact my parents for a home visit,
> and said it was about the debate club, which he sponsored. I did not object,
> though I knew nothing about debating, or what it entailed.
> Mr. Thompson did come to my house and while I did not hear the entire
> conversation, the gist of it was that he thought I would be a real asset to
> the school and to the debate team.  He felt that with my parents support, my
> personal confidence and development would grow if I would join the club. He
> also asked me about my plans beyond high school. This girl, with her thick
> glasses, felt like a real person.
> I vividly remember those next months. We were assigned topics, had to
> research both sides of those topics, practice debating our fellow members on
> the side we believed in, but finally we had to debate again any side
> assigned us by Mr. Thompson.  Then we went out on the trail. My confidence
> grew with each debate. I remember when we debated at the University of
> Chicago, and our team received accolades and a trophy. Mr. Thompson gave me
> special recognition back at the school. 
> How did this change my life? Primarily, it taught me to think, and to
> realize that there are always two sides, possibly more, to every question.
> It trained me in having confidence to speak out, think quickly in terms of
> rebuttal, and to speak with respect to others' opinions. 
>    My family was transferred to New York when I was in college, and I
> never return to my old school for any reunions. I was in my late seventies
> when a boyfriend took me to Illinois, and specifically to Hollywood, for a
> visit. I was able to walk the halls of Riverside Brookfield High. On the
> wall was a big beautifully framed portrait of Mr. Thompson. I learned he was
> the tennis coach with a winning record. This surprised me because he had a
> foot turned in a strange way which caused him to walk with a severe limp. I
> wondered if this is why he believed that anyone could surmount problems, and
> he had devoted his life to helping others as he did for me.    
> 
> Jacqueline Williams
> 
> Clarity is just questioning having eaten its fill.
>     Jenny Xie
> 
> 
> 
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