[Stylist] A new prompt
Vejas Vasiliauskas
alpineimagination at gmail.com
Mon Oct 21 22:54:59 UTC 2019
>
> Hi Jackie,
> That's such a great memory.
> Just as you enjoy reading from younger writers, I enjoy learning about growing up during my grandparents' generations. I had one born in the 1910's, one born in the 1920s, and two born in the 1930s. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet all of them except for one of the two born during the 1930s.
> While we're on the subject, would you mind answering another question about growing up during this time? When you were a child, did you find it easy to access very basic recording equipment? I ask because I'm thinking that in one of my stories, I'm going to have a young boy visit his great-grandfather, and was thinking that maybe he could listen to a very old recording of the great-grandfather as a child.
Thanks,
Vejas
>
>
> On 21 Oct 2019, at 12:58, Jackie via Stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Vegas,
> That is an interesting comment.
> I was born in 1928, and I was sixteen. So it would have been in 1944, I think. I don't think the teachers made home visits just for grades, or as a usual thing, but in my case, I guess Mr. Thompson thought it was necessary to a recruitment.
> Though I am in my nineties now, I even remember that my mother showed him the crabapple trees and gave him some crabapple jelly.
> I do learn a lot from reading what all of you "young ones" write. I think that includes everyone on the list!
> Thanks for reading and commenting.
> Jacqueline Williams
>
> Clarity is just questioning having eaten its fill.
> Jenny Xie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas Vasiliauskas via Stylist
> Sent: Monday, October 21, 2019 12:38 PM
> To: Writers' Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Stylist] A new prompt
>
>
> 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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