Friday marked 25 years since I began high school. Holy cow 🐮 I’m getting old.
It also marked 25 years I’ve known the man who not only became my teacher, but also my Coach, mentor, and a longtime friend.
Mr. Clougherty and I met in Pre-Algebra class on my first day of ninth grade. This guy looked older than he was with his gray hair but he was really young. Before coming to Hempfield, he taught in the inner city and at Pressley Ridge. I know straight out of Compton right?
I lasted a few weeks in his Pre-Algebra class before switching to Applied Math for the remainder of freshman year. It was there that I want to share one of my three favorite Kevin stories that will be in this blog. One of those stories and I couldn’t celebrate him without it.
Without further ado, here are my best memories of Mr. Clougherty.
Mr. Clougherty promised me a copy of Steelers Digest freshman year.
One thing that I always loved about Mr. Clougherty was that he was always a good motivator. During the Fall of my Freshman year, he came to an agreement with my Ceramics teacher, Mr. Billeck. If I did the assigned work in my Ceramics class, then Mr. Clougherty would buy me the latest edition of Steelers Digest. Needless to say, I did my work and earned the prize.
Mr. Clougherty was always good at checking up on me too. He always asked me how things were going in my other classes. This would become a common theme throughout my time at Hempfield and later on in life as I got out into the real world.
Mr. Clougherty made me into a social butterfly.
For most of my young life, I was not a very social person. That changed when Mr. Clougherty came into my life.
During my sophomore year of high school, he approached me about an opening for a swim team manager as he just recently accepted the job. It took some time for me to think about it and he almost moved on from me but, I said yes. Becoming manager would change my life. For one, it improved my social life and was one of the experiences that molded me into the person I am today. By senior year, I was taking down all the stats and, since I graduated, there hasn’t been a manager like me since.
Without Mr. Clougherty to extend this invite to me, who knows if anything in my life would have happened? There might be no HGA or Slippery Rock, no Toastmasters, and no blog. I’ve been blessed with wonderful friends like Mr. Clougherty, as well as Paula and Sara (who are family to me), who lift me up and inspire me to be unapologetically me.
Mr. Clougherty and I eat dinner once a month.
During the off-season, Mr. Clougherty and I get together once a month to have dinner. This is a tradition we’ve held down regularly since 2013.
We’ve eaten everywhere from the chain restaurants to the local eating establishments. Kevin is patient and listens to me even if I spend the whole hour that we have together complaining. I’ve come down a lot from who I used to be and that makes the dining experience more enjoyable. I really appreciate his support as I’ve begun to go against gender norms in terms of the way I dress. He loves how confident I am and is proud of how far I’ve come since high school.
I’m grateful for the bond that we have, even 25 years later when others have moved on in life.
No matter what (and I’ve tried paying for dinner on multiple occasions) he always has my back. It’s his way of saying “Thank You” for all my years of service to the swim team.
Even all these years later, I still attend water polo every Christmas Eve (the tradition was cancelled this past year due to COVID-19) and love hearing him recite “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
The best part about our friendship is that he always introduces me to his new crop of freshman swimmers during conditioning. He always tells them the story of how I was the best manager ever and he even does the birthday trick with them. Those of you who know me know what I’m talking about. Of course some of the kids like to throw out weird dates to stump me but that’s all in good fun. The practices are hard but having me there makes it so much more bearable.
We all need a Mr. Clougherty in our lives.
Stylish 🍒 