My interest in writing began in the 10th grade. My Advanced English and Literature teacher, Ms. Phipps, instilled a love of written expression in me that no other teacher had ever managed to do. Oh, I’d always been in advanced reading classes since I was very young, 1st grade, I think. But it wasn’t until walking into Ms. Phipps class on the first day of 10th grade that I learned that writing can be not only fun, but a wonderful way to express the craziness that was going on in my adolescent brain. To this day, I still have stories, essays, and papers I wrote as a teenager. I was one of the fortunate ones to have Ms. Phipps all through my high school years as my English teacher. I’m not going to sugar coat it all and say she never fussed at me or gave me a bad grade. Like any other 15-year-old, I could be sassy and lazy; and I had absolutely perfected the eternal eyeroll. A trait my own children have not only perfected but have kept in their response repertoire for more than a decade. Ms. Phipps was firm, but kind. With every sass there was a stern look, a sigh, then she’d grab a chair, sit quickly, and patiently point out the obvious errors in my writing. Mildly embarrassed by my behavior, I would sheepishly take my paper and quietly make the corrections. The problem, I believe, was that I was cocky. I loved to write, so I mistakenly thought that this love made my work superb and warranted an A+ every time. I felt that I had thoroughly expressed my thoughts and felt it was well written in every way; and confidently walked my paper to the front of the classroom and placed it in the assignment box. Only to have my ego completely deflated the next day, when I would receive a C. Whhhaaat?? How could that be? Surely there must be some kind of mistake! Ms. Phipps! You wrote the wrong grade on my paper! This is supposed to have an A on it! Well, her patience and teaching ability changed that arrogance to humility and the desire to keep working until it was indeed the best possible piece I could manage. That my work could always be improved upon and that was okay. To this day, I remain in contact with this amazing woman through social media as do many others she taught. Although she is no longer teaching in a classroom, she is still our greatest champion. When she learned I had become a writer, she was ecstatic to learn the spark she lit so many years ago was still burning strong decades later.
Fast forward…
Married, one wee one in the house and another on the way, my need to use my brain in an intellectual capacity led me to go back to college. I left college years earlier to join the proverbial “circus” that is known as a commercial airline. After my mother’s death and having a child on the way, I left to become a stay home mom. Ms. Phipps had left the longing to learn and write permanently etched in my brain. So, pregnant and needing an outside outlet, I went back to school. In my Greek Mythology class, I was challenged with the assignment of writing a modern version of Oedipus. I immediately began to salivate as my brain quickly launched into create mode. The entire drive home I started speaking into the small recorder I had for class in case the baby sat on my bladder, and I had to be excused from class. I rattled off idea after idea and by the time I had pulled into my driveway, every character had a name and backstory. Within a matter of days, my manuscript was done and ready for proofreading. I handed it to my husband and waited nervously while he read my work. He had never read anything I’d created before and when he finished, he came into the nursery where I was desperately trying to put our daughter down for a nap and said… you wrote this?? Deflated at the thought that it might not be very good, I simply said, yeah… He leaned against the door and said, Honey, you have a real talent. This is really good! I smiled and quietly replied as to not wake the sleeping toddler cuddled up in my lap. Thanks… Do you really think so? He sat the papers on the dresser and said. Yeah, I do. And you need to keep doing this. I turned in my assignment and received an A. His comments stayed with me… “you need to keep doing this…”
Now on my own…
My marriage was not destined to go the distance and life drastically changed. Now on my own and struggling to make ends meet, I had to stop any sort of creativity outside of helping my children with their homework or setting up my own lesson plans. By now I was a high school history teacher. When my children became old enough to read on their own, they had moved on from the wonderful Magic Treehouse books. At that time, there was nothing to speak of for middle grade readers to read that might keep them interested in history and that was not acceptable. So, I began writing a small story that I could share with my kids about an Archaeologist mom and her two children in Egypt. Well unfortunately “Life” continued to happen, and weeks turned into months, which turned into years without any work on my story at all. Before I knew it my children were graduating from high school and my story still sat in a box, unfinished. I may get a bit of flack for this but… North Carolina has historically not paid its teachers very well nor has it been supportive of the difficulties surrounding their jobs. Time after time, teachers were made into villains as they struggled to teach ill-behaved students whose behavior was, time after time, enabled and consequences discouraged. I reached a point where I dreaded going into work so much that I would literally cry all the way to school, day after day. After speaking to my wonderful son about it, he said Mom, why don’t you just go back to flying… you know you want to. That afternoon, I began to search for and apply to airlines. He was so right! I did want to return to flying. I no longer gained any sort of warmth or satisfaction from teaching. And now with my wings firmly attached, I never looked back. Not even once.
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Donna Fera
AuthorDonna Fera‘s writing invites readers to explore unknown worlds alongside courageous heroes as they face thrilling challenges and uncover hidden secrets. With a Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Donna is able to take her readers on amazing journeys that draw upon her background in research and learning practices. Combined with her experience in the airline industry and special projects, Donna creates stories that captivate readers with their combination of organizational detail and customer service resolution. Join Donna on this remarkable journey!
