There have been many influential men in my life, but I will highlight three: my uncle Devan Peterson, my high school English teacher Mr. Albert Ricci, and my private dance coach Chris Williams.
Devan is my mom's youngest brother. They are 13 years apart, but they are really close. Devan is 10 years older than me; so he isn't an uncle who is old enough to be my dad, he's more like an uncle who can be an older cousin or older brother as well. I adored him when I was younger, and I would just follow him around. He let me play with his pet bunny and dog. When I was 10 Devan moved from Spokane, Washington to Provo. He lived with my family for a while, then he got his own apartment. He worked at Eddie Bauer while he went to school, and he eventually became an airplane mechanic. He now works at the Denver, Colorado airport. It was really fun having him live in Provo for those few years. My mom's dad and brothers all have their own motorcycles, and since Devan lived so close, he gave me rides on his all the time. I loved it! Devan is really safe on his motorcycle. He always wheres a helmet, and he always has a second helmet for passengers. I haven't seen him much in recent years because motherhood and Gerson's work schedule has made it difficult to attend family things. But, I recently saw him a couple weeks ago at my mom's family reunion. Our family spent the majority of the time boating and swimming. Benjamin and Luna really fell in love with Devan's girlfriend Romaine.
Mr. Ricci was my English teacher for 8th, 9th, 11th and 12th grade. Even though I graduated 8 years ago, I still call him Mr. Ricci. I took 8th grade Honor's English in middle school, and that's how I met him. I already knew his son, Nick, who was in my grade. I have always been a bookworm, but Mr. Ricci taught me how to analyze what I read, notice patterns and connections, and to find deeper meanings. He cares about the personal lives of his students.
When I graduated from 8th grade, the school I went to, Farrer Middle School, was closed and reopened as an elementary school. Mr. Ricci transferred to Provo High School and taught 9th and 10th grade English. I started out in 9th grade Honors English with a different teacher. Then my class got a student teacher who was horrible. I received no help from her nor my main teacher, so I transferred into Mr. Ricci's class. The other teacher didn't want to let me leave, she said that it was too far into the school year to transfer, and the I would fail Mr. Ricci's class. Mr. Ricci wrote a note to my counselor saying that he knew I could keep up with the class work, and the counselor let me transfer.
During my Sophomore year, the school prepared to bring the International Baccalaureate program to Provo High. It was for Juniors and Seniors at first, and I signed up to do the program. I was thrilled when I learned the Mr. Ricci would be the English teacher for the IB program! I really expanded my personal library and literary knowledge during those two years. My writing also improved greatly, all with Mr. Ricci's help. During this time Mr. Ricci recommended a book he thought I would like, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. He lent me his copy to read. I loved it so much that I got my own copy, it inspired me to pursue History in college, and I now have a growing library of other books by Philippa Gregory.
I've run into Mr. Ricci several times since graduating. Both of our families tend to frequent JC Penny and Best Buy. He is always genuinely interested in what is going on in my life, and he always is supportive of the decisions and plans I have made. I'm sure he has touched other student's lives like he has touched mine.
Chris Williams was my private ballroom dance coach for three years. I met him because his wife, Angela, was my team coach. Chris and Angela actually knew my parents in college. My mom was in the ballroom program with them, and all of them (my dad included) worked on the same custodial crew as their college jobs. Most of Angela's team who decided to compete Open Latin chose Chris as their private coach. That's what my best partner ever, Parker, and I did. Chris really cares about his students, and he choreographs to their ability, and changes it as they improve. He quickly became more than a coach to Parker and I, he was also a friend and parental figure. We sat with him and Angela at competitions, and they would work with us in between events. He also was greatly involved in the designing and decorating of our costumes. Chris is incredibly honest in a kind way. He has stopped me from making bad costume decisions a few times. When I started doing Open Standard, my partner Sterling and I also went to Chris for choreography and lessons. He has done a lot of amazing things with teams and individuals. He and Angela co-choreographed the team's Mary Poppins medley my junior year. And my senior year he coached Parker and I to 5th place in Youth Pre-Champ Latin! That was really exciting for all of us because we hadn't been making the finals in Latin at the high school competitions, but with new judges we did at BYU's Dacesport! Chris is an amazing man, and I'm so grateful that he was apart of my dance life.
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