There have been a lot of teachers and professors that have influenced my education and even personal life. I am grateful for all of those educators that make it their mission to encourage their students in any way they could.
However, my high school art teacher, Ms. Nancy Mitchell, taught me so much in all the four years I took her so she holds a special place for me. She really did try to make her classroom a place for students to be able to create and express themselves. My high school had so many different kids coming from different backgrounds, so I thought that was so important to have. Students need an outlet to express their emotions if they can't express it at home. That is what Ms. Mitchell did, she wanted her students to push themselves with their creative side because she knew that everyone is talented in their own way. I admired that because she never looked at a piece and judged it, she saw the little details of hard work a student did.
There was a moment that that occurred with her that to this day still stands out to me. We had a conversation after school about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I explained that I wasn't really sure what I wanted to major in, and then she just said, "Why not ceramics?" In my eyes, I thought that was so risky, but she told me that if ceramics makes me happy then why not just go for it. It was that simple to her, if something makes you happy for the rest of your life, then why not just do it. She is the reason I decided to major in ceramics. There is just something about ceramics that I love so much, and it is because of Ms. Mitchell. She made me see the beauty of it and how our hands can literally create whatever we want.
As I stated before, I have had a lot of educators in my life that encouraged and inspired me to be who I am today. But again, having Ms. Mitchell all four years in high school really changed how I saw art and opened a whole new window to different types of mediums. To this day, I still talk with her. She always wants to see my newest pieces and wants to come to future shows of mine.
Ms. Mitchell taught me more than just about art and ceramics, she helped me with friendships and any personal things that were happening in my life. She was a teacher that respected her students, and wanted respect in return. Even if there was a "bad" kid in the class, she just talked to them and they would change soon after. It was those types of things that showed me what an amazing teacher she was and how you can change a student's life with something so simple.