teachers

It’s Theme Day at b5media’s business channel. Usually, theme day is a breeze – in fact, so seamless that you might not have even been aware that we had a regular theme day; I just incorporate the theme into my planned post for the day.

But this month is kind of difficult which is ironic because I was pretty excited about the theme initially. The theme is “Being August” – the reason being (besides the fact that it’s August) is that August is one of a handful of months with an actual definition. The definition of “august” from Dictionary.com is:

1. inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic: an august performance of a religious drama.
2. venerable; eminent: an august personage.

And with that, I kind of drew a blank.

Tax law does not exactly inspire reverence or admiration from many folks. In fact, while I consider myself a pretty good tax lawyer, my kids are not so impressed. And here’s a good example: earlier this year, I decided to talk about my job at my daughter’s school since all of the other parents were doing it (peer pressure is not just for students). You have to understand that my daughter’s classmates have parents that are doctors and teachers and artists – and an airplane pilot. I mean, c’mon! How can you compete with that? That’s the epitome of cool among the pre-K set.

So, on April 17 (tax day this year), I struck out to talk about my career. I had this whole great lesson planned and I have to say, it went off really well. I handed out stacks of pennies to the kids and we talked about the kinds of things that taxes pay for (the boys in the class were psyched to find out that taxes paid for the Philadelphia Eagles stadium) and everybody paid a penny or two into the kitty for tax expenditures. It was great fun.

I was feeling really good… until my conversation with my daughter after my talk. It went like this:

Katie: “So, are you going to talk about flowers?” (I love to garden.)
Kelly: “No, it’s tax day so I am just going to talk about taxes today. Did you have fun?”
Katie: “Yeah.”
Pause.
Katie: “So next time, are you going to talk about flowers?”

Nope, not so awe-inspiring, this tax profession that I’ve chosen… Well, at least not to small children. But as I thought about inspiration and my trek through school, I realized that inspiration doesn’t have to hit you over the head. It doesn’t have to be all “wow” factor. In fact, sometimes it creeps along quietly. And in my case, it was a handful of teachers who influenced me to follow my heart and do what I loved, and what I was good at.

And then I realized what I wanted this post to be about… I wanted to take a moment to thank those teachers for their inspiration. So here goes:

Kay Williams: my AG teacher in middle school. When she first went to Topsail (my elementary school), she saw me as a bossy little kindergartener on the phone. She thought to herself, “I hope I never have that kid in my class.” She had me every year from the 4th grade to the 10th grade. She was fabulous – and difficult. I loved her.

Constance Schwartz: my 6th grade math teacher. She sent me to the principal (the one and only time) when I refused to do proportions because I thought they were silly and pointless. She went on to be my first math team coach.

Col. Maus: hands down, the best math teacher (or any other subject) ever at Topsail High School. Shame on the administration for letting him go. He stood up to the students and challenged them. He refused to coddle. You came to class. You were prepared. You never forgot your homework. You were never late. And he made me feel cool to be a smart girl doing math (one of only two on the math team). Absolutely a class act.

Michael Matros: my senior year English teacher. I wanted to write. He wanted to know why. I thought writing was just putting words on paper. He thought those words should be organized. He was right.

Dorothy Preston: my freshman college professor. In college, I thought I was too cool for math. Dr. Preston took me aside one day and gave me a pat on the back. I was, she told me, good at this. Next semester, I took Calculus 2, then Calculus 3… you get the picture.

Nancy Knauer: one of an amazing group of tax professors at Temple Law. I took her trusts and estates class because I didn’t want to be a litigator – and all of my friends had signed up for evidence. I am a tax attorney today because of that class.

Alice Abreu: one of the best tax professors you’ll ever hear speak (ask Harvard, where they gave her a standing “O”). I sauntered up to her on the first day of class to explain, when she told us that we had three “passes” for absences, that I had two excused absences: I was taking the bar exam and I was traveling with my husband. “Great, you have one more,” she replied. I needed professors like her that wouldn’t put up with my crap. I made every single Tax Policy class except for those two days. And to this day, it remains my favorite tax class ever.

So, as I think about what has inspired me over my career, it really is all about the people that I met along the way – those folks who saw some potential in a little country girl from the South.

When people used to ask me what I wanted to do, I would tell them that I wanted to be a lawyer. Most of them just chuckled. Girls in my town didn’t go on to do those sort of things. But here and there, I met folks who believed in me, that realized I liked to play with numbers, that I was curious, that I wanted to learn. And those people gave me the push I needed – to be the first in my family to graduate from college, to go on to law school and get my JD and my Masters in Tax Law. And those folks? They are, collectively, my inspiration.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a big shout out to three more people…

My Dad – for having the strongest work ethic of any person I know. I learned from an early age that there is value in doing a good job.

My Mom – for letting me do what I wanted to do, even when she didn’t understand me. Even when she sat in the Broad Street Diner and cried that I sounded “just like a Yankee”, she supported me.

Chris – my husband – who is my biggest cheerleader ever. When I wanted to start a law firm, he said sure. When I started this blogging craziness, he made time for me to do it (yes, even when I was in the hospital during labor). Tax bores him to death and yet, he listens to me (or at least pretends to) talk about it for ages. My mom thinks he’s a saint for putting up with me. I say he’s just lucky. No matter which side you come down on, there’s no denying that he’s encouraged and inspired me a lot.

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A long, kind of atypically sappy post from me today. But sometimes, sappy is appropriate.

And with all of that said, I’d love to hear what inspires/inspired you in your job. Care to share?

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