I don't know what made me google Matthew Burkholder today, but I did and to my dismay, I'm just now finding out that he's gone.
I took Theater 115 with Matthew Burkholder the beginning of my sophomore year at UA. I'm was an Environmental Science major, and theater was way out of my comfort zone, but I just thought, "Why the hell not?" I mainly thought that it would be a nice alternative to public speaking, that I would get some sort of self-confidence from this class. To my surprise I did, and basically because of one person-Matthew Burkholder. That man could light up a million rooms. His smile just shined for days. Not knowing anything about acting, and obviously being very terrible at it, Mr. Burkholder opened his arms and accepted me and everyone in the class. He gave every single student the same amount of attention whether they be the best in class or the worst in class. I did stuff in that class that I would never, ever see myself doing and it was all because Mr. Burkholder made me feel comfortable and accepted no matter if I did awesome, or failed miserably. I enjoyed that class more than any other class at UA, and I'm so glad that Mr. Burkholder was there to help me through it. At the end of the semester, after doing the final monologue, I remember being so proud of myself and hoping that Mr. Burkholder was just as proud. I ended up getting an A in his class, so I guess that means he was.
He was such a selfless man, ready to help anyone and everyone. I know he will be missed by everyone.
I took Theater 115 with Matthew Burkholder the beginning of my sophomore year at UA. I'm was an Environmental Science major, and theater was way out of my comfort zone, but I just thought, "Why the hell not?" I mainly thought that it would be a nice alternative to public speaking, that I would get some sort of self-confidence from this class. To my surprise I did, and basically because of one person-Matthew Burkholder. That man could light up a million rooms. His smile just shined for days. Not knowing anything about acting, and obviously being very terrible at it, Mr. Burkholder opened his arms and accepted me and everyone in the class. He gave every single student the same amount of attention whether they be the best in class or the worst in class. I did stuff in that class that I would never, ever see myself doing and it was all because Mr. Burkholder made me feel comfortable and accepted no matter if I did awesome, or failed miserably. I enjoyed that class more than any other class at UA, and I'm so glad that Mr. Burkholder was there to help me through it. At the end of the semester, after doing the final monologue, I remember being so proud of myself and hoping that Mr. Burkholder was just as proud. I ended up getting an A in his class, so I guess that means he was.
He was such a selfless man, ready to help anyone and everyone. I know he will be missed by everyone.
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