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Guess what? Kat's cats have a page, too!
I was born in Montreal, Canada, and lived there until I was twelve. I remember bright, cold winters when the snowplows would blow the snow into mountains on the front lawns. Some of the dads would dig tunnels in these mounds for us to chase each other through. What a blast! No wonder we called snow "cold gold!"
I always liked to make up stories. When I was eleven, we lived where there was a traffic light on the way to school. Moms of little kids would "hire" us big kids to get them there safely. I spun tales for my first-grader as we walked and soon had a lot more little kids tagging along! I liked to write stories, too. I still have some that I wrote in sixth grade.
The Torontonian
Like Tori's mom, I turned to teaching. After I had taught kindergarten and first grade for a few years, I decided to open a primary school of my own so I could experiment with early reading. This dream turned out to be a great success!
The Floridian
In Florida I returned to dance classes, branching out to jazz and modern. I also did volunteer work for Southern Ballet Theatre, now Orlando Ballet, and gained an inside look at a professional company.
When I eventually stopped dancing, I filled my time first with a club I started for kids and then with writing. I still work full-time, though, so I can work on my books only in my "spare time"!
When I turned thirteen, we moved to Toronto, another large Canadian city. There I discovered ballet -- at the library! I devoured Lorna Hill's novels about girls at the Sadlers Wells school in London. This was the life I wanted! I spent my baby-sitting money on lessons and practiced like crazy to make up for my late start. Through stubborn determination, I advanced fairly far, but I couldn't take as many classes as I needed and also work to pay for them. Eventually, I had to give up that dream, but I had some great adventures along the way. They'll probably show up in the DANCEFUTURES books!
One winter break, my husband and I, who now ran the school together, drove to Florida and fell in love with the climate. By spring break we were back in Orlando looking at property, and that summer we moved ourselves and the school to the sunny South. Before long we had a native Floridian daughter!
Recently I learned of a volunteer program that needed former teachers to work with preschoolers, helping them learn their letters before they start school. This was "right up my alley," so I jumped in. I’ve missed sitting on the floor with little kids to do learning games, so this is really fun for me!
Since September 11, I've taken some emergency training courses. In Citizen Fire Academy and CERT (Community Emergency Response Training), we learned to put out fires and to triage disaster victims. We put on firefighting gear and crawled blindfolded through a mock-up house to learn search-and-rescue. Then we got into harnesses and rappelled down the training tower! After graduation, I spent a day at a fire station and rode out on the trucks. Speeding down the wrong side of the road and through red lights, with siren screaming and air-horn blasting, was way cool!
In Citizen Police Academy we saw demos by the SWAT team, crisis intervention team, K-9 and mounted patrols, crime lab technicians, and lots more. After graduation, most of us joined the alumni association, which organizes field trips for members to places such as airport security, the jail, and the sheriff's helicopter base. CPA graduates can also fly along on "Chase One." I went on a night patrol -- it was like being on the TV show "Cops"!
If your city or county offers such programs, don't miss out! You get some terrific bonuses for learning how to help in your community. An exciting program for teens is Police Explorers. Members learn police skills so they can ride along on patrols and help the officers--I watched a lesson in handcuffing. The guys and girls here wear very cool uniforms and help the police at all kinds of events. Check out Explorers where you live!
Where have you lived and what have you done so far? What do you hope to do this year? after high school? in your twenties? If you've read Future Perfect, use Tori's idea to project yourself into the future and tell me what you hope will have happened by a certain time. E-mail me!
Content © 2000-2008 Kat Corbett | Design © 2000-2008 Hillary Corbett
Last updated: February 12, 2008