Little Woman

Logan Madden
Mrs. LeiLani
English 1001
October 15, 2007



Deep within the English department of the number one rated public high school in Louisiana is a little woman who can teach with the big boys. Hidden is her classroom in the back wing of the school, yet one would be lucky not to mistake it for a giant scrapbook. The room is enshrouded with the works, pictures, and gifts of current and former students that are displayed proudly as if they were trophies. With a scent of designer perfume and popcorn, this classroom is an intriguing one indeed. Walking through the door is like going from bass to falsetto. The floor, decorated by forgotten student’s papers, is putting on a display of what was learned on this day and the walls are echoing that sentiment. Daylight protrudes through the open window shades, giving a view of the outside world. Aligning the right wall are four Dell computers and a wooden closet containing hundreds of English books. The desks are arranged in three rows of five on opposing sides of the classroom forming an aisle. The ceiling is tiled and resembles a checkerboard, and the teacher’s desk is lined with pictures of her children and a calendar.

Yet there is a little object in the back left corner of the classroom that commands the most attention. You can’t quite make out what it is because of the object’s small stature in relation to the computer it sits behind. When one takes a closer look, you see a face light up like the Fourth of July. Her smile is so large and evident that you can’t help but smile right back at it. Mrs. Thigpen is short and compact with big, bright eyes. Her skin is an olive-brown and she is lucky to be tipping the scales at one hundred pounds. Her face is easy to look at and you would be lucky not to mistake her for a student. Mrs. Thigpen carries herself a lot larger than she actually is. If you were to meet her through e-mail or on the phone, you would never guess that she was five foot nothing.

As Mrs. Thigpen rolls her chair from her computer to her desk, she grabs a stack of papers and applies one end to the desk to straighten them. Her hair is down, and she is wearing a black button down shirt with heels. “Now before we start, let me ask YOU a question, Logan Madden,” she says with a sly grin. “Now why in the world would you choose to interview me, besides the fact that I’m the best teacher you’ve ever had?” I join her with a smile and explain that I am considering going into education. I tell her I envy the fact that she has the opportunity to influence young people’s lives every day. “Ok, I can go for that. Now let’s see what LSU freshman English is all about!” she says as she gently pins a note on her bulletin board.

Wondering what the early days of a great teacher are like, I start off by asking Mrs. Thigpen about her childhood. “I grew up on the North Shore, both in the Slidell and Covington areas. I would say that I had a good childhood. I have four older brothers so things usually stayed pretty interesting. Most of the time, I was on the outskirts looking in at all of the strange and senseless things they were involved in. I didn’t have any girlfriends so I was pretty much a tomboy until junior high,” she says with a sense of pride. As I write this down, I feel like I already have a deeper understanding of why she is the ways she is. It’s not uncommon for you to hear Mrs. Thigpen call a student a “punk face” or jokingly threaten to beat them up. I concur that this is a result of her growing up with four brothers. I reply to her childhood description by delving into the hurricane Katrina issue. I saw this as an opportune time being that I had just learned Mrs. Thigpen is a lifelong North Shore resident. “Ah, don’t even get me started,” she says as her eyes roll back in a cyclical fashion. “Katrina did not affect me directly that much. I had no damage to my home and I stayed in Lafayette for the majority of the time with electricity and all the conveniences of everyday life. My mother’s house was destroyed, so seeing her go through anguish saddened and frustrated me,” she says with her eyes now looking down at the marble floor. “I think the entire situation was handled pretty poorly all across the board, especially on FEMA’s part.

An announcement comes over the loudspeaker, and I welcome the break from the lowly subject matter of hurricane Katrina. To lighten the mood, I decide to ask Mrs. Thigpen what I really came to find out. I am curious to know her favorite authors and books, the same way I am curious to the religion of my Biology teacher, the political party of my Sociology professor, and the favorite actor of my Theatre teacher. The views of people well-educated in their respective fields, regardless of what they are, have always interested me. She pauses for an instant with a look on her face that screams excitement. “I will read any author who writes a good book,” Mrs. Thigpen says confidently. “I actually don’t have any favorite ‘authors’. I just read a variety. My top three favorite books would have to be Shadow of the Wind, The Feast of All Saints, and The Glass Castle.” Interested, I nod and make a mental note to look up those aforementioned books.

As Mrs. Thigpen crosses her feet and sits straight up in her seat, I ask her if teaching was what she always wanted to do. She pauses for a bit and replies, “I was actually in college to become a cultural anthropologist and had no intention of becoming a teacher. Dr. Shirley Jacob was the head of the education at my university and she suggested that I attend a workshop for educators with her. I was a little apprehensive about going at first but truly enjoyed the experience, and the rest is history.” Now, Mrs. Thigpen is not your stereotypical English teacher, as she is very young, hip, and energetic. She gets to know her students on a personal level which is something I always respected. I always wondered why she chose to teach English. “I always did well in English. I loved to read and was always a good writer.” I end with asking Mrs. Thigpen what she gets out of teaching, yet in my head I’m thinking I already know the answer. “There are so many things I get out of teaching,” she says, now looking at me. “The most significant is when students that I have taught come back and tell me that I have made a difference to them. It satisfies me to know I have had a hand in shaping a young person’s life.” The sincerity in her voice is almost frightening. I try to look straight into her eyes so she knows she has impacted me.

Time is up as Mrs. Thigpen’s off period is drawing to a close. I look around the room as she takes down my e-mail address, and I come to realize that I am fortunate to have had Mrs. Thigpen. She was a major factor in the process of me making an early decision on what I wanted to do with my life. As the son of a teacher, I always saw the downsides to teaching: the pay, the stress, and the demands. Yet taking a class like Mrs. Thigpen’s and seeing how she approaches her job showed me that money is not important and you will never be stressed if you are doing something you enjoy. I thank her for her time as I give her a giant bear hug. As I walk out into the hallway a feeling of bliss comes over me. Before I can get to the exit, I stop by the high school library just to see if I can skim the back summary of any of the books Mrs. Thigpen calls her favorites.