This is a term that has been bantered about here in my life here lately. I actually had the pleasure of being able to travel back to my Alma mater, University of Arkansas at Monticello, to speak at the retirement party of one of my mentors from college, Mr R. David Ray. This man made such a huge impact on my life in so many ways and has been such an amazing example of what being a mentor truly is...
In my speech, I stated that Mr. Ray was a coach who instilled a little fear with a whole lot of respect. You worked hard because you wanted to please him, to make him proud of your accomplishments. I have found this to be a very valuable tool with coaching my own team. Mr. Ray's assistance did not stop with each performance. His love and concern did not stop when you walked across that graduation stage. He could be counted on for feedback, for a strong listening ear, and for assistance at any time. It was 15 years later and many miles placed on the roads of my life and I found his name placed before me again, surprisingly!! I did not put him on a reference list for an interview I had down in Arkansas. I just felt like it would be too much of an inconvenience after 15 years of only Christmas letters and an occasional touch base.
So I sit down for the interview and the first question asked was to explain my UAM experience, namely my time with the Speech and Debate team. I went on to praise my time, my experience with R. David Ray and how wonderful a learning experience it had been. I actually was stopped by one of the interviewers and was told that they had already contacted Mr. Ray about me and that he had provided a glowing review. I sat there in SHOCK!!!! I can truly say that I am where I am today because of this amazing mentor and friend...
But you know, I have been blessed with many many MANY mentors all my life. People who have unselfishly given of their time, their effort, their love, their concern, their understanding and gentle pushing...I consider myself so lucky and so blessed...
So here they are, among others...
To Mrs. Simek: Thank you for providing me the opportunity to create my first play in your second grade class...I believe it was with her guidance and love that truly the theatre bug was instilled in that little Santa Claus. You see, she wanted to present the poem, "The Night Before Christmas" for our class...I approached her desk and asked if we could make it into a theatre performance and asked if I could direct. She expanded the idea and we created a performance for our parents. I still remember taking my puffy red jacket and turning it inside out to become Santa Claus.
To Mrs. Evanson: Thank you for providing me with a firm base of self-worth and for recognizing that I had value as a human being. This woman truly helped me in more ways that she could ever have known. I would go through a divorce of my family years later when I would reflect on everything Mrs. Evanson had taught us about inner strength, creativity and to embrace who were are, warts and all.
To Mrs. Allmaras (now Gunter): Thank you for instilling in me the joy of music. With you, rehearsal never ever EVER felt like torture. You taught me, through voice lessons and through your daily choral example, that music could be fun and emotional and fulfilling. It was an absolute joy and I also was able to experience what it was to have a confidante, a friend, and someone who embraced me for who I was even though I did not know myself. Many years later when singing and music was not an option for me, with surgery looming, I would reflect back and push myself by saying, "What would Tami do in this situation?" I pushed myself to not get forlorn about the circumstances but to allow healing and know that I would indeed sing one day...for that I will be forever grateful.
To Tom Bernard: Thank you for your creativity, for your passion of theatre, for showing me the example of what it was to push myself as a student as well as a theatre director. You continue to be an inspiration to me even from across the country. Not a day goes by that I don't hear your voice in my head, pushing me to explore more, to question more, to figure out new, innovative ways to express myself. And you are the reason my students now claim I MIGHT have a PEEPS problem!! :)
To Susie Baer-Collins: Thank you so much for the strong example you set in the Omaha Theatre community. I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful an experience it is to observe you in work and to be an actor in one of your productions. I am able to use your strong work ethic as an example to my own kids! But it was something else you had said that stuck with me throughout the years...It was something you had said, in a director's consortium at UNO to future aspiring theatre directors, that has stuck in my head. It is a phrase I tell each of my classes and was reminded of it again this passed weekend during my speech at UAM. "If something scares the piss outta ya, you have to try it at least once!" YES!!!! If only we could all follow this mantra, think of what kind of world it would be that we would live in??
I know we all have strong mentors who have provided such strong examples of how to create a life well lived, who encourage us to try new things, who instill the seed of learning in the hopes that it will blossom and grow into something very beautiful on which to build a life. I am grateful to have so richly blessed with talented, wonderful, nurturing people who have provided such a firm foundation on which I build my own life. It is in how I treat those around me. It is in how I live my life day to day. It is in how I approach my interactions with my fellow man...and to them I will always be eternally grateful.
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