The flip answer would be my senior English teacher with whom I had a torrid affair for nearly my entire senior year. She was actually a great teacher and was always ruthlessly fair on my grades despite our relationship. Odd ending... she was accused by another student of doing something inappropriate with him at her apartment. This student didn't like her and knew the fastest way to get rid of a teacher is to accuse them of sexual misconduct. I couldn't really use my alibi to his BS story.

"Umm... Chris couldn't have been there getting fondled by her that night because I was there f***ing her until 3 in the morning..."

Wouldn't have exactly gotten her out of hot water. She had to resign, but it all worked out anyway.





More seriously though, my Dr. Jeff Gershman was my wind ensemble conductor, conducting teacher, and more importantly, my Music History teacher 1800-present. He was a brilliant guy with a brilliant personality. He made things very not dry. He was very personable and good friends with both me and my wife. He taught his class in a very different way and with an unusual gusto. His class made me consider pursuing a degree in Musicology at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University since it has one of the best musicology programs in the world.


Ironically, right as he was filling out his stuff to be a tenured professor at my university... he was offered a job as the assistant director of bands at.... Indiana University. My last year of college was a fiasco of epic proportions and his replacement was a man I ended up having very little respect for. I lost my zeal for pursuing my masters though I'm quite happy with my current job.

Right before he left he asked me and my wife into his office and closed the door. He told us that we were the ones he was going to miss the most. We all had a bit of a tearful moment. I was really sad. Everyone loved him and everyone felt a little betrayed for a while.

But it was really a great move for me. Not only was it his alma mater, but it's one of the most respected music schools in the country and he now has the job second in command. That means he will undoubtedly be the primary conductor of the Indiana University Wind Ensemble one day.... which is a very prestigious thing in the concert band world.

I miss him dearly. He has been without a doubt the most influential teacher of my life.