A Letter To The Teacher Who Changed My Life
This week is teacher appreciation week and I thought I’d take a moment to write about the local teacher who changed my life. Her name is Meghan Plourde, or Mrs. Plourde as I still call her, out of respect, whenever I’ve been lucky enough to run into her around town.
The Teacher Who Changed My Life
I met Mrs. Plourde in 1999, during my sophomore year at Durango High School, but I also had her as a teacher during my junior and senior years too.
During that first year, Mrs. Plourde was my FEA (Future Educators of America) teacher. You see, back then, I thought my life would take me in a very different direction. I wanted to teach and possibly coach, but during my time in her class, I ended up learning so much more about myself.
The thing about Meghan Plourde is that she made teaching a bunch of rowdy kids look so effortless. She commanded the room and when she spoke, everyone listened.
I remember joking with her that “FEA” was Spanish for “ugly,” which is funny because Mrs. Plourde was anything but. Just a beautiful person, inside and out, who constantly challenged everyone in her classes to think outside the box. I fondly remember her encouraging me to hold onto that childhood imagination that so many high school kids lose when trying to look cool in front of their friends.
Overcoming Insecurities
You see, I was a jock in High School. I ran track, played soccer and wrestled. As a jock, I wasn’t necessarily eager to put my creative/imaginative side on display. I don’t know why, but it probably had something to do with a fear of being called a nerd. Kids are strange like that, aren’t they? So many of us were in such a rush to be an adult that we sometimes forgot how magical it was to be a child.
However, Mrs. Plourde helped me see through any insecurity I may have had and she showed me that it was okay to be that imaginative version of me.
Listen, in a world that oftentimes values conformity over creativity, having someone who values you – the real you – is life changing.
If you’ve listened to Las Vegas country radio over the last 21 years, you can probably guess that life took me in an entirely different direction, but the lessons I learned from Mrs. Plourde have always remained with me. Being able to make a living with my creativity is something I didn’t realize was possible before Mrs. Plourde.
In fact, so many of the valuable life skills I’ve carried throughout my adult life can be directly traced back to her. She has been an incredibly instrumental person in my life, and whether she’s aware of it or not, I know I’m not the only person who feels this way.
An Impact That Goes Beyond Me
Growing up here, and making a career in Las Vegas, I’ve met so many people. True story, every single time I’ve met someone who also had Mrs. Plourde as a teacher, they’ve all had nothing but wonderful things to say about her.
I’m telling you, if every teacher in Nevada cared as much as Meghan Plourde, we’d be number one in the nation.
To Mrs. Plourde, I am forever grateful for your guidance and belief in me. Thank you so much for being such an incredible teacher and for helping me discover things about myself. You may never fully know, or understand, how impactful you’ve been in so many people’s lives, but I hope you know how much your students love and value you.
The world is better because you’re in it.