As I was entering my second year in college at Salem State College, Massachusetts I decided to enroll in a dance composition class. It was a three-credit class and the teacher was Miss Corbin. I remember walking into the dancing studio and saw this diverse group of people and faces I had never seen before. I was very nervous. Miss Corbin introduced herself and gave us the syllabus for the course. The course was set up in the way that every week we had to perform a dance in front of the group and get critiqued by Miss Corbin as well as our classmates. Also we had to write a journal each week explaining more in words what the dance was about, meaning of it, etc. It was not going to be as easy as I thought. One of our first assignments was to make a dance about a dark period in our lives. That was not hard for me since I unfortunately had to experience Cancer at only the age of 21, but how was I actually going to tell my story through a dance? That is when Miss Corbin came in and later had a huge impact on my life.
Miss Corbin, an outgoing brunette probably in her early 40's loved her profession. She was a very strict teacher and kept us all working very hard to always better ourselves. I had not danced for some years so it took me some time to get back into it and also this was the first time where I actually composed all my dances myself. With Miss Corbin's enthusiasm, guidance, knowledge and ideas she made me see that education did not only have to come from a text book. Now that I look back at it she probably taught me more than any other teacher has ever taught me before and that was all due to her perfectionism and by believing in her students. She was very encouraging and took her time to help us become a better dancer. After the semester was over and we had danced for many hours Miss Corbin made me feel like I had graduated from the school of life time learning and I think that signifies what a good teacher she really is.
-- Angelica Gunnarsson, Florida Atlantic University