Dear youth of today –
Did I ever tell you how I became a teacher? I have been a theatre artist, practically, my entire life – of course, supplementing my desired profession with the usual jobs of retail, restaurant work, and high-end sales. All those provided me with life experiences; I was able to walk in worlds where previously I had not traveled. Fine dining, fine wines, fine fabrics, and stories…so many stories.
I enjoyed my nomadic employment, however, when my nephew’s best friend died of alcohol poisoning, at age 15 – my nephew became distraught, angry, disengaged. He got into fights and eventually, dropped out of school. I thought what a shame he does not know Holden Caulfield from THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. If Chris had only known that Holden was also mourning a loss and found the adults and systems in his life could not sustain him. Chris could have found a friend in literature.
It was at that time I was working as a barista at a coffee shop near a high school. Every day I would have conversations with the students…making connections. I thought of Chris and thought, I could help these kids find connections to how to live a life, through literature. (The last thing I ever thought I would be is a theatre arts director, but your know….life!) In addition, being rather tired of not making a serious buck in Portland as a theatre artist. I applied and was accepted into the Master of Teaching program at Lewis and Clark College.
You see, I believed then, and still do, stories are what connect us. Stories keep us grounded and teach us to fly with wings. Stories provide us a best friend who understands us, a mentor who teaches us and a land to which we can escape. Moreover, stories are not limited to the page. Stories are in needlepoint, photography, the strum of a guitar or the whack on the head of a drum, the deft line of a drawing and the stroke of a paintbrush.
As story makers, we are also artists – finding the connections in our humanity and expressing our joys, sorrows, hopes and fears. I have many friends who are “successful” and famous – they are still my friends because their hearts remain true to the cause of their art, not because being their friend has some awesome benefits!
If you find yourself discouraged as an artist, think of the story you want to tell and why you are compelled to tell it. Those answers inspire the arts and change the world.
Janet VanWess
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