True influencers

An incomplete list of the people who have shaped me

Meghann

Like the spelling of her name — so unnecessary, so padded with loops and letters — Meghann’s handwriting was just extra. I coveted it. I stole glances at her fourth grade worksheets at every opportunity, not to copy answers but to analyze exactly how she formed her p’s and t’s. I sensed that handwriting could say something about you, and I wanted for myself what I could see in hers: confidence, charm, and a few heart-dotted i’s for good measure.

Amanda

My freshman English teacher, and I imprinted on her immediately. Thank God fourteen-year-old me chose someone worthy because for the next four years I doggedly worked to conform my character and personality to hers. While we had many similarities (and more to come, if I had anything to say about it), she was also everything I desperately wanted but was too timid to be: confident and at ease with every clique of student, funny, tough yet tender, secure in her identity, unabashed about her smarts and her high standards, eloquent in front of a classroom or crowd.

I saw in her a compelling path to adulthood, something I had strained to see just the day before. If grown-up me is any of those things now, it is directly because of her.

Molly