I was a junior in college. My school was and still is 6,000 miles away from where I am now in Los Angeles. Some friends and I were camping out at school, pulling an all-nighter. Doom and gloom filled the classroom we were occupying. We were in an impossible situation.
We were all taking a drama class from the very famous Professor J. He was an actor turned professor, a Shakespearian scholar and a true 师, 스승, if there ever was one. None of us wanted to let him down.
The following day was the day of our production. My team had chosen to stage an adaptation of Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest. Other teams had chosen their plays and had been rehearsing for weeks.
Believe it or not, we didn’t even have our script. Yes, and it was the day before our performance.
This production was supposed to make up 40% of our entire grade that semester. There were 6 of us. We were good friends. We were certain that the next day would be the end of us all. Suddenly, Sari, who had gone to tutor for an hour, pushed open the door to the classroom. She was known to be Miss. Optimist.
“Hey, everyone! I brought cookies! Chocolate chip! My favorite!”
I ripped open a bag, pulled out a cookie and passed the bag around the room. I stared at the blank Microsoft Word page on my laptop. I couldn’t type because the creamy chocolate from the cookie was making my fingers sticky. I put down the cookie and glanced at my fingers. I blinked. Then I looked again.
“Everyone, look!” I laughed as I thrust my fist forward.
It looked like I was giving everyone the thumbs-up signal. My friends looked at me as if I was stir crazy. There was absolutely nothing to laugh about. But when they saw the perfectly shaped smiley face on my thumb, complete with the dash of curly hair and freckles, they too, burst out laughing.
Kelly had her new digital camera with her and documented the moment.
We all went back to work. Kelly and I finished the script at two in the morning. It was a play with just six chairs on stage and no other props. The next evening at the English Department’s Drama Festival, we witnessed six other fantastic pieces. Students from that same class went on to pursue acting degrees at the New School or at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts - this wasn’t a casual, low-key drama workshop. But guess what? Guess who won 1st place that night? Team Choco-smile. Team Choco-smile that didn’t even have a script 24 hours prior to the production.This is not based on a true story, it is a true story.
ps) There is no adequate English translation for the word 스승 which I've employed in the text. It is a word with implicit veneration for the one who the word is used for. It means "a true teacher."
What does it say about our culture that we don't have a word that means "a true teacher?" Great story.
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