Things can change in a second.
It was the last thing I expected.
I was on my way to bed because I had to work in the morning and we all know I'm not a morning person.
After a text message, I knew it was going to be a long night. Sleep was no longer a priority.
It was about our mentor, editing guru, professor, friend, go-to-with-all-questions-journalism, Les Anderson.
Teresa sent me a message saying Les Anderson died of a heart attack.
I couldn't even respond.
I had to call her and get all of information, just as Les would tell us to do.
I then went online. I went to Facebook, Twitter. Trying to find out as much information as I could. I felt like I was back in the journalism world, trying to get my facts straight.
*************
It was 2003 and I had just transferred to Wichita State after playing tennis for two years at Butler County. I was nervous about my first time at Wichita State especially in the Elliott School of Communication. I was scared, actually. But, my classes with Les made them much more bearable.
I was a photographer trying to figure out how to get my degree. I had to take a reporting class and we were able to choose what we wanted to cover. I snagged sports. I didn't know anything about about writing, but I knew I loved sports. It didn't matter to Les. He taught us to never have a "first annual" (if it hasn't happened, it can't be a first annual). I still fight with coworkers about this, knowing I am in the right. I learned to never use "very" unless you are speaking about a woman who is pregnant. Reporting 1 and 2 were difficult for me. I didn't want to be a writer. Les knew what I was passionate about. Photography. WSU didn't have a photojournalism class, so Les took me on and became my mentor. I took an independent study with him my last semester to help me get my portfolio in order.
I was the first one to have an electronic portfolio. And I was nervous as hell about it.
Near the end of the semester, I walked down to The Sunflower and there was a message for me from Les. He needed to see me as soon as possible. I was nervous. I didn't know what he needed but if he needed to see me, it was important. I ran up to his office, where my editor was talking to him. I knocked on the door and he looked at me with a serious look on his face.
Courtney and I had just put together a spread of photos of the year and I had taken a photo of the plane crash memorial and we placed it in the paper.
Les had seen the photo.
I asked what was up and Les grabbed the issue of The Sunflower and pointed to the photo. He looked directly at me and asked, "Why isn't this photo in your portfolio?"
I answered with a shameful, "I don't know."
"Put it in there. You have something no one else has. No one else has that memorial picture."
"Ok. I will put it in. Thanks, Les."
"You bet."
This was the kind of professor who never gave up on his students. He would edit our work, talk to us about our lives and help us find jobs. He took extra time to edit our portfolios, go over stories or help us find the right words. He pushed us to be better. He pushed to go outside of our comfort zone. He pushed us to look for the deeper story. He would edit and re-edit our stories countless times until it was right.
He trusted a bunch of college kids to run a paper, go to class and change lives. Little did he know he changed all of OUR lives.
It was Les who helped me get my first sports writing job. He believed I was a better writer than I gave myself credit for. But he also believed in my photography work. Also during my last semester, he asked Wichita Eagle photo-guru Travis Heying to show me the ropes and check out my work. It started a friendship that has lasted over six years.
I left the journalism world in 2007 to go into teaching. A calling I should have listened to in 2005, but that is neither here nor there. Being in the education department, I rarely made it to Elliott School of Communication. There were days I would go for a run between classes, just as I had done when I was enrolled at ESC, I would think about my days and nights at The Sunflower where we would hang out and watch trailers for Napoleon Dynomite and then go to IHOP for breakfast at 2 a.m. after the paper was sent.
There are times when I miss all of it.
I don't write stories anymore. I write in my blog every so often. The grammar isn't what it should be. I don't take photos much either, but there are days when I do and I realize how much I miss it. I sometimes think Les would be upset I left journalism, but learned he wouldn't be. He would understand and remind me not to forget where I started.
He believed in me more than I believed in myself. He would know teaching is where I should be.
And teaching is where I need to be.
I always thought, "If I'm half the physical education teacher my father was, I'll consider myself lucky." That thought is still there but, yesterday another thought was added.
If I can make an impact on a student the way Les Anderson impacted my life, I'll consider myself pretty darn lucky.
It's been a long time since I've seen or spoken to Les. I'll never forget how important he made me feel when I had a question for him. While I was talking to him, he would make you feel as though you were the most important person in the world. It was rare if you didn't learn something from Les during the day. He was always teaching and we were always learning.
I remember when he covered for Dan Close's editing for print class. I had a large school load my last semester and I think I had Les for over half of those classes. He said something about me being sick of seeing him. I told him I figured he has to be sick of seeing me.
He never made me feel like a failure, although I had many times where I felt as though I had. He cared so much about all of us. I believe he cared so much about us and he was cared for in the same reflection.
Les never wanted to be in the spotlight. It wasn't his thing. He would always put his students in front of him. He made us feel worthy of the front page. But Les deserved it more times than not. And sadly, the ending of his life gave him the front page. He had to have it. It wouldn't have been right had he not taken the front page of the Wichita Eagle.
He was honored last month and I am so glad he was and that he was able to be there. I'm sad I wasn't able to be. He finally got to be honored and know how much he meant to people.
Sunday night, he was honored at the ESC with a candlelight vigil. I was going to go, but I couldn't bring myself to go. I felt I have been out of the journalism world too long to come back. I should have realized Les would have wanted me there.
When I saw him when I graduated in 2005, I thanked him for helping me. I hope he knew I was thanking him for everything he had ever done. I was thanking him for the impact he had made and was still going to make on how wrote, took photos and then changed careers. I hope he knew he made an impact, a positive one at that, on my life.
I hope he knew. God, I hope he knew.
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