I was kind of worried about this post when I saw it 9 days ago. I wondered if I could think of 10 influential people without listing all of my parents individually. It's not that I haven't been influenced in my life, it's just I'm not a detail oriented person so I have a hard time narrowing things down to the specifics.
I mentioned this post to Scott and without a blink he was able to rattle off a very detailed list of people who have impacted MY life and specific examples that I've told him over the course of our relationship (one of the many reasons I married him). So. This post comes to you thanks to Scott and thanks to the many people who have helped me become the medal-winning-college-graduate-mother-teacher-wife-and-friend that I am today.
1. My parents - step parents included! (notice, I'm not listing them separately, because I need 9 more spots to fill!) Of course my parents have been influential. They taught me kindness, thoughtfulness, pushed me to become well educated, how to be a good friend, be honest, and be a little competitive in life. As I've become an adult I see parts of each of my parents and step parents in myself. As a parent I hear their voices in my head. I consider their thoughts in major decisions. I look to them for guidance and can count on them for a good laugh. I think we are all influenced by our parents, how could we not be? Good or bad they are ours forever. It's a pretty big responsibility as a parent to take all of that on!
2. My husband. Again, how could I not be influenced by him? I attribute my more organized lifestyle to him, and he has also taught me the art of patience as we continue to work through this crzy life together. I have learned the art of forgiveness from him and have also learned the importance of being a good listener. He has to put up with a lot of independence from me and I have learned how to compromise and try to collaborate on decisions instead of going the grip-it-and-rip-it method. I'm not going to pretend I'm this way all the time. I'm very independent and strong willed in my marriage but Scott has influenced me to try to be more methodical... at times. He is so supportive that I wouldn't have been able to finish my Masters degree or train for a half marathon without him. And when I finish tasks, big or small, he tells me how proud he is. He's also so wonderful at making Audrey laugh that I'm reminded not to take life too seriously.
3. Audrey. Audrey has influenced me as an adult teaching me patience and understanding but more importantly she has influenced my teaching. I see children in a different light now that I have my own. Each of my students is their parents Audrey. I have a better understanding for why students struggle on some days and a better understanding of what it takes to have a well adjusted child entering school. It's hard work people!
4. My dance teacher - Ms. Jane. I took ballet lessons from when I was 2.5 until I graduated high school. The dance studio was where I spent most of my time. It was my first and really only job until I went to college. I made lifelong friends there. I leader poise and self worth. I learned balance and grace, but most of all she really believed in me. She made me feel like I was something really special with my talent. When I graduated and went to college I realized there are far better dancers in the world, and I by no means wanted to make a career out of dancing, but I never ever felt inadequate at my dance studio. It was a place where I felt special and important. Not everyone has that place. I'm lucky to still have mine.
5. My brother Brian and my cousin Mary. Each of my brothers are influential and I love them all so much and I have to say my cousins are pretty great, but Brian and Mary are special in that they both do not deny who they are in this life and they live a life of love and struggle. This is not the place to get into the specifics but I want them to know they are influential in my life every day.
6. Julie Johnson. Julie was the teacher I worked with during my student teaching. She and I were connected from the start. We had the same philosophy of education and the same love for primary students. I learned so much that semester in her classroom and still keep in tough with her today. She taught me how to teach thoughtfully and supported me as I became independent in my career. We had many laughs and shared many wonderful ideas. She is pretty great.
7. Dr. Durham. That is how I will always refer to my first principal. She was the idea of structure and discipline and was just the right amount of scary. My first teaching job was a challenge and the school I worked at would not have been what it was or is without Dr. Durham. She drove a hard ship but she supported her teachers and stood up for the students in some very sticky situations. She told it like it was but also influenced my teaching and gave me confidence in the classroom. I wouldn't have had the relationship I had with her without my good friend Heather, who was able to break through her hard exterior. But in the end I left my first job with an ally and a very powerful role model.
8. Dan Seegmiller. My current principal. I cannot say enough about Dan. He is so supportive and positive. He keeps things light while at the same time demanding excellence from the teachers in his building. I want to do a good job for Dan. I want to make him proud. I want to continue bettering myself because he sets that example. He is a family man, a friend, a mentor, and a very kind person.
9. This spot is dedicated to everyone ever wrote or sang a show tune. I've sang show tunes since before I could talk and still sing them at the top of my lungs to this day. Some of my favorite memories with all my favorite people are at musical theater events. I've sang or heard a show tune with almost everyone I love. I want to thank them for the gift of dramatic and spontaneous bursting into song. I try to live my life through that example.
10. Ruth Wakefield. The name might not ring a bell to anyone and I'll be honest that I hadn't heard of her until I googled her, but she is credited with the invention of the chocolate chip cookie - my life blood. I would have wasted away in life without the creation of the chocolate chip cookie. Because of Ruth I am living this day so I can continue to be influenced by wonderful people.
There you have it! The 10 people who have influenced my life. I owe them a lot of gratitude.
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