After a teacher inservice where we examined strategies of mindfulness and recognizing opportunities to provide a classroom for introverts as well as extroverts, one article struck a personal chord about things that an introverted teacher can do to help maintain some comfort, stability, and enthusiasm. Now anyone who knows me, would not claim I am an introvert, nor would I, but there has been a discussion of ambiverts, the idea that (shockingly!) people don’t fit into neat this or that categories. I think this fits me perfectly. I not only am just as happy in large groups as I am in one-on-one situations, but I am just as likely to not want to be in those situations. I need some alone time as often as I enjoy playing board games or sports with groups of friends. I am just as likely to WANT to go to the movies or eat a meal by myself as I am to catch a flick with some buds. In reading the article that approached the need to highlight things that introverted teachers can do since the school setting seems primarily set up for extroverts, one task is both doing and sharing about hobbies and I would like to do that now.
Growing up, my family was into sports. I mean WAY into sports, and in particular, baseball. My mom was a scorekeeper, my dad was an umpire, and my older brother played and was an umpire. It was inevitable that I would play too, and I did. I played sports year round from baseball to football, from soccer to basketball. It wasn’t until sixth grade that I had the opportunity to be a part of a school play that I gained an interest in theater. My first part was the prince in Bee Bop Cinderella. The next year I played Ebeneezer Humbug in a melodrama production of A Christmas Carol. I continued to pursue theater in high school and even competed in speech and debate. Acting was my passion at that point of my life, but I knew I had no desire to continue with it professionally going into college.
It wasn’t until this summer that I happened to see a note about auditions for a production at the church I was attending that I put any thought into doing acting again. I decided to audition since the whole show would be finished by the end of summer and the start of a new school year. I got a role and surprisingly, a large one at that. The old familiar feelings of excitement in playing a part, memorizing lines, meeting new people, and eventually performing for a live audience ignited a passion for something I thought I had long moved past.
Cast photo from summer play, A Scheme By Any Other Name.
With this acknowledgement, I found out about another audition at a local university for a larger production and again decided to audition. Butterflies were in my stomach throughout the audition process and waiting to hear back. Regardless, it had been rewarding to take a risk and try something new. Still, I got a part! I have now been rehearsing at William Jessup University about four times a week at night and most Saturdays and loving it. It is energizing, rejuvenating, and helps me to see that as much I like to support my students in their passions, it is still vital as an educator to pursue my own.
Cast photo from first read through at William Jessup.
A scale model of the set for William Jessup's The Crucible.
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