Ms. Hickman has been an inclusion teacher in the Social Studies department at BASE High School for the last seven years. She is also a mother to three children of her own. In the fall of 2021, just after the class of 2025 started to get settled into BASE, Ms. Hickman went for a routine physical and discovered that she had colon cancer. She met with a surgeon right away and had a major surgery that took forever! She was gone from school for weeks after that surgery and never went back to teach Living Environment after that. Thierno Diallo recently spoke to Ms. Hickman about her ordeal and to ask some questions to get up to date with what has been going on with her since then.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about how it’s going for you?
Hi Thierno, it is so great to hear from you! A few weeks ago I was put on something called hospice which most would define as the last stage of terminal cancer. I was really excited to go on Spring Break just like all of the other teachers and students until I started to feel a little sick. By the last day, Sunday, I knew I would not be able to make it home to teach class on Monday even though I had everything ready to go. Instead, my son drove me back to the hospital where I stayed for the next 10 days. I was pretty confused and didn’t know what was going on until afterward. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be well enough to go to the hospital at all!
2. Are there any things you’re finding particularly difficult right now?
So hospice is considered the end of your life. You are supposed to have 6 months or less to live to be on hospice. Right now I’m pretty tired and I feel some kind of ouchy parts of my body. I also got a little confused sometimes, but I guess you guys saw that already! One thing that was pretty cool though was that I had my son take down the divider between the living room and the bedroom and put chairs around and invited all my friends over! I had all kinds of friends come and visit from all different times of my life. There were neighbors from the building, co-workers, friends from college, all kinds of people that have been part of my life. Even, (maybe especially) friends from high school! The friends you’ve made here at BASE may be by your side throughout your life, through good and bad. I felt very lucky to have so many people around me that cared about me.
3. What messages would you like to say to the students of BASE?
The message I’d like to say to the students of BASE is that it has been an honor and a privilege to work with each and every one of you.
There were a couple of things that I learned when I was becoming a teacher that stuck with me. One was from Dr. James P. Comer who said that “no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship” I can’t say that I always was successful, but I tried to build relationships with all of you. I felt like you were my family and you meant so much more than a number on a page. It was a joy to see you succeed.
The other thing that stuck with me was from one of my professors in grad school who repeated the mantra that we should aim to have our students be “thinkers, doers, and risk takers.” I’m afraid I don’t remember his name, but he said this phrase over and over and it lodged in my brain and made total sense. I know some of you looked at me like I was crazy when I said I didn’t care about the grade you got, but rather, did you learn anything? What did you do? Did you take a risk? These things are noble pursuits, and you, my dear BASE students, are noble scholars.
4. How did it feel to leave BASE ?
Terrible. I felt like I let you all down without even telling you what was going on with me, so I appreciate the opportunity Thierno to let everyone know what has been going on since before Spring Break. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I am reading right now about what Patti Smith says about feeling joy in the face of sorrow. Check it out, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJxDccBO5WM/. It really is true that you can find joy in the strangest places. I love you BASE Class of 2025. I certainly felt a lot of joy with you as you came with me through my diagnosis.
Mrs. Witt, co-teacher to Mrs. Hickman and friend of six years, says “Mrs.Hickman is one of my best friends. I like everything about Miss Hickman. She is such a powerful educator. I learned so much teaching with her. I love her ideas, I love how she pushes me on students to be authentic learners. I love how brave she is, truly has changed my life.”
Ms. Hickman changed our lives. We will all miss her at BASE and wish her well on her future.
