True story - this morning I received an email that stated that I “need to have something written/prepared for the award presentation” this evening. Those of you that have been in my class know that I am my own worst critic when it comes to writing, so after twenty aborted attempts to compose a proper presentation for tonight, I finally gave it up, and decided to spend my short time with you doing what I do better, which is to tell stories.
Before I get to the story I was tasked with writing, I want to tell a story that I have told many times in many versions, but this time it is all the truth. You can tell a true story if it embarrasses you. I’m 45 years old and a teacher now, and I have a confession to make - I don’t clean the mug I keep at school. By January the inside of the eggshell white mug transforms into a multitude of browns, and chestnuts, and burnt umbers. Some may call it laziness, but I call it "seasoned." I look into that mug, and think about prior stories and lessons, as the remnants of hot beverages past skim across the surface of the current one doing loops and spins. It’s about where we have been. But I digress.
Choosing the ideal person to win the award from the English Department was a difficult one - Mr. Glamuzina and I have only been here this year and Mrs. Castillo currently has the most seniority in our department with two years. This forced us to focus on the year as a whole. Tim O’Brien stated that “what sticks to memory, often, are those odd little fragments that have no beginning and no end…” like that time that Joey wrote that eight page blog post in seven point font (which was every time), or the time that Dan had the class hanging on his every word with a rebuttal loaded with pathos, or the time that Kyle made us look at Holden in a whole new light, or when everybody was waiting on Kalli to publish her blog to see what animated GIF she would include and what sort of brilliance she was going to blow our minds with, or when Keaton or Caitlyn would change the way students thought, or when Tyler Gresham almost swayed an entire jury with days of impassioned pleas, or that time when 40% of the Collier County Schools “Laws of Life” semifinalists came from Marco Island Academy led by Alaina. Dustin, and Andrah.
I could go on all night as there have been so many shining moments, so many examples to choose from, so many stories. Yet there is one ring to rule them all. The winner of tonight’s English Award has written many true stories - true in that they make the stomach believe. During the first week of school, she was the only person that refused to take part in the BYOL Manifesto as she stated she was "allergic to confrontation." In her first piece of writing for me she stated that “I'm the type of person who cries at the movies no matter what movie is playing. I’m the type of person who will see beautiful packaging on a candle and cry.” About a week later, she published her first blog where she expressed her distaste for Holden Caulfield due to the fact that he is "able to be brave and establish his anger and express it, even if it is a violent way, mentally or physically, I'm jealous of it. I'm passive about nearly everything, and tend to shy away from speaking my mind from fear of hurting someone else's feelings, but Holden speaks his mind.”
The tears flowed a lot in the first few weeks. But I don’t view those tears as those of fear or self-doubt...they were indeed a baptism.
As the weeks turned into months, the writing developed a new voice, one that was empowered, one that took risks, one that was compassionate, and caring, and independent, knowledgeable, self-aware, and creative. Rather than take the path of less resistance with a less rigorous elective, she changed her schedule and enrolled in AICE Language, wanting to challenge herself. And in that class, she became a leader - the writer most students wanted to read, the voice that most students wanted to hear, and the critic that most students wanted to review their papers. A week and a half has passed since her last class, and our juniors are still sending her their essays for her quality feedback. As a matter of fact, I normally left her papers last to grade because I always had something to look forward to.
As commencement approaches, I can say without a doubt that she and everyone else here tonight is ready to move on. Hold on to the lessons you’ve learned in all of your English classes, but let Andrah Stansbury-Mendoza be an inspiration to you - jump on that horse, don’t be afraid to reach for the gold ring - if you fall of you fall off - you’ll get up and you’ll be fine. Just keep writing - I will just be on that bench right over there waiting for it…
