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And I was lucky enough to have teachers that really, really looked out for me and really encouraged all that. And in rural Louisiana, that was a rare thing back then.

I didn't want to teach. I wanted to act. It was quite a long and difficult road to get there but very thrilling when I did.

I was accorded the opportunity to learn by failing - albeit at the cost of a few honourable teachers' sanity - and now I realise what a rare and incredible luxury that is.

I wish my school days could have dragged on a little longer, or that I could go back and do it later in life.

The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits.

I remember teachers who really singled me out for their discouragement.

During my time at Watchung Hills Regional High School, I was fortunate to have a number of teachers who inspired me and filled me with enthusiasm for learning.

I'm a teacher still, but with a much larger classroom.

I hoped that it would be possible to slide slowly from my public life back to the life of teaching and writing that I had always wanted. But things didn't work out that way.

Being a teacher is back-breakingly difficult work. It is also extremely important work.