So I found on via a MySpace message the other day that Carol “D” Drennan, who was my high school drama teacher, passed away on Nov 12.
It’s caused me to be a little thinking. I don’t think there are really any people who read my blog who went to high school with me, and even those of you who might (Jay, etc), I don’t think any of you knew D. In fact, I don’t really see or talk to anyone I was in theatre with in high school anymore. That’s not a good or bad thing, just something that went through my mind right now.
Reading things that other people have posted about this has gotten me thinking. I am fond of the phrase “one must make certain sacrifices for one’s art”, but until reading Julie Sparks’ post about it, I had forgotten I learned that from D. I learned the difference between “efficient” and “effective” from D. I learned that “goddamn” is a lot more offensive than “damn” from D.
I’ve had a lot of adventures so far in my life that would not have happened without my experiences in high school theatre. Even though I haven’t been consciously aware of it, there’s been a piece of what I learned on the stage from D in a lot of them. Those lessons have been with me when I was making short indie films. Those lessons have been with me when studying improv. And those lessons have been with me in one way or another in every interpersonal interaction I have had since then.
Sometimes it’s easy to figure out the influence that a teacher has had on you. I can tell you exactly what I learned from Cavanaugh. I know precisely what I learned from Starsiak. And I constantly am reminded of what I learned from Amelio. But some teachers have a more subtle impact on who you are – and the sad thing is, you tend to forget them, while they might just have had the most important lessons for you.