CARPE DIEM

A passionate teacher by day/actress by night seizes her dream

- Kate Drummond

A candid photo of Kate on set.

I think from the time I was old enough to form any sort of thought, I was performing. I was a very expressive and emotional kid and I remember long summer days of going door to door performing songs for people on their porches and organizing lip-sync competitions with my friends. I remember standing on my bed each night singing the national anthem to my stuffed animals because in my little heart, one day, I would be called upon to sing at a Blue Jays game. As creative and full of life as I was, I struggled a lot as a kid. I went to eight or nine different schools, and therefore was always the new kid trying to find a friend. It was hard for me to fit in and navigate the social circles around me. I always felt “other.”

I couldn’t escape the feeling that everyone else knew something I didn’t, and that led me to spend a lot of time in my imagination, creating stories, playing make-believe. I began to shelter myself and my feelings, and slowly, as bullying started, my self-expression and free spirit began to diminish.

My teachers and parents put me in sports as a young girl as a way of helping me to focus and I guess, looking back, to give me a sense of belonging. I excelled in sports and found true joy. I spent the next 20 years competing throughout high school and university; being an athlete became who I was.

Kate as a kid, with one of her favourite stuffed animals, Ellie.

I went to teachers college and discovered a deep passion for teaching kids, and I eventually nestled comfortably into the stability of my classroom, my life and the routine of a day job.