Behind the Story: an Inside Look at the Real Inspirations & Character Development

My comic series, 5 Days A Week, was inspired by the most rewarding and influential school year of my school career, 7th grade. What made this school year so special was the very people that left an impression on me forever- something I would have never expected before that time.

The previous school years of my life were mainly uneventful. In fact, I had a very low self-esteem before coming to the Spring-Ford School District, from the Anne Arundel County school system in Baltimore Maryland. I hated school.... all it meant for me was work, and being picked on. (yes I was always picked on in school). Other kids could never understand me...or at least they acted that way. The only friend I had was the teacher. However; to my misfortune, I wound up having a few teachers that didn't like me either. I remember my sixth grade teacher telling my parents "I'm glad she's not my daughter; there's something wrong with her." Needless to say, by the end of my sixth grade year, I was deathly afraid of entering Middle school. The thought of having more than one "mean" teacher to deal with absolutely terrified me and by this time I had a real negative stigma towards school.

Strangely, I remember every first impression I got from my seventh grade teachers, and it's funny how I can look back and compare to that first day of school in 2001. I remember Mr. Shafer's first lecture on the poster he had hanging in his classroom that said "DUMB QUESTIONS ARE MORE EASILY HANDLED THAN DUMB MISTAKES"...I remember Mrs. Erb's glowing smile, Mrs. Puleo's energetic personality, Mr. Hollingsworth's cold stare at me for being late, and Miss Wagner's spunk and enthusiasm (now Mrs. Dombrowski). Getting to know these teachers was a fun experience, and wound up learning a lot from them. I also met my very first best friend in school, Chelsea Post. Today she is still my partner in crime, a great character, and the one and only classmate of mine that has seen and heard the same experience of seventh grade I have.

Photo from the 2001-2002 Spring-Ford Middle School yearbook

I think what initially inspired me to start drawing my seventh grade teachers was the interesting relationships they had with each other, and the uniqueness in their personalities and teaching styles. It all started out with the playful teasing Mr. Shafer and Mr. Hollingsworth were involved in. They would be calling each other names back and fourth; and I'd hear them cracking jokes and making funny faces out in the hallway. Mr. Shafer always seemed to have a one-liner to drop, and Mr. H had a comeback ready to fire. Not only that, but the both of them implemented humor into the classroom, which really made school enjoyable for once......... I mean- all these years of me hating school before, and damn! I started to really like it! I liked it so much, it motivated me to do my best in school. I wanted to impress, and I wanted to be on the teachers' good side. So much so.... that I wanted to take it a step further.

I did what I do best: I drew them.

So I started drawing Mr. Shafer and Mr. Hollingsworth in little comic strips and passing them around for my friends to giggle about. At the time, I was too shy to show the teachers, so I kept it between my classmates and me. I would draw Mrs. Puleo, Mrs. Erb, and Miss Wagner in the comics too- usually being the victims of Mr. Shafer and Mr. H's antics. But eventually, I gave in and showed Mrs. Erb one of the drawings. (because she caught me doodling in class and asked to see what I drew afterwards). Mrs. Erb insisted that I show the other teachers...not because they would be offended...but they would probably love it too! Mrs. Erb's encouragement has always been my favorite thing about her. I'm not sure what would have happened if she had not pushed me to show the other teachers....... maybe it would have remained a secret forever.

Mrs. Puleo always encouraged me to be creative too. I remember first showing her the drawings she said to me, "You have to do another one!" And I had Miss Wagner laughing all the time too.

Year by year went by, things changed, people changed, and my artwork grew. In High school, I had turned the teachers into cat caricatures to star in the story I was writing. Ting Tang Too was the name of my story that had feline anthropomorphic characters, and it was the main thing driving my art at the time. I had to find a way to incorperate my 5 favorite people to draw- so I turned them into cats! Hahahahaha.... I'm still not sure if they really liked it all that much, but it did give me the chance to really develop character and new techniques. I really expanded the story and the art for Ting Tang Too, and it is one of the main reasons why I've become so comfortable in Anthro Art. I'm now one of the Anthro Gallery Moderators on the world's largest Online Art community, DeviantART.

However, I felt that although the cat caricatures were cute, they really didn't have the potential to reach as large of an audience as a more "Relationable" story can. Coming to this realization a few years ago, I decided that the teachers needed to come back to their original form, and I needed to develop a story all of it's own.

What better thing to do but reference the very school year that had such an impact- and bring Chelsea into the mix!
With my seventh grade year, the teachers, and some of the kid character personalities developed from Ting Tang Too, and school, 5 Days A Week was born!

Today, Mr. Hollingsworth, Mrs. Puleo, Mrs. Erb, Mrs, Dombrowski, and Mr. Shafer continue to inspire me, with their support, advice, and input.
As I continue my college endeavors as a perspecitve teacher, I reflect on the years that have passed and ask myself: What made these five people so special to me? And I can answer that now. It's because they care.

February 23, 2009 - Visit to the SF seventh Grade Building for stock Photo shoot
Mr. Shafer, Mrs. Dombrowski, and Mr. Hollingsworth

Mr. Shafer and I at the Spring-Ford Rotary Meeting a year ago