By Brian Smith
Note: I met Paula Wallace at the Student Leadership fair on Sept. 8, where RAs and OAs were present, not necessarily freshmen.
A couple weeks ago I was trapped behind a folding table in the Oglethorpe House ballroom, representing District to new SCAD students. The experience was less than exciting until a slight hush graced the crowd and a small group of respectably dressed men and women entered through the side door. A student evaded the group and walked past my table with his cell phone to his head, into which he said, “I think I just saw Paula.”
He was correct – SCAD President and co-founder Paula Wallace stood in the center of that group. His apparent shock didn’t surprise me. Although it was his first sighting, he’s a freshman. I’ve only seen her five times in public – and I’m a senior. But here she was, a mere 15 feet from my folding table.
One of the members of the group surrounding her was Trey Reckling, ombudsman of the college, who approached the District and SCAD Radio tables to chat. Conversation led to me telling him I’d never met Wallace. He promptly returned to the group, waited for his turn to speak with her, and brought her to my table.
I’ll be honest – when I saw her coming, I had to wipe my clammy palms on my cut-off shorts. Then I started chastising myself for wearing cut-offs and a t-shirt in her presence, representing District. Why was I nervous? Does slight reclusiveness added to authority create some sort of celebrity status? Not like it matters – she’s now standing in front of me.
I introduce myself. She introduces herself and I don’t tell her that I already know. We talk about the newspaper and student media – then there’s a short, almost awkward pause. What do I say? What do I small talk about with President Paula S. Wallace?
“So, how was meeting Jackie Chan?” I ask. She grins and tells me how nice he is, and why he’s the first honorary professor at SCAD: he represents a lot of what SCAD appreciates and encourages. He’s an accomplished artist who uses his success to benefit others.
I told her I’m all for it, and appreciate such a successful and generous ass-kicker representing my college. I ended our conversation by asking if he can speak in Savannah. She told me when she asked if he’d speak at the upcoming film festival, he talked about a prior engagement in New Mexico – but she said it with an air hope.
Wallace left the ballroom and I sat there behind the folding table with the feeling I imagined I would experience after meeting, well, Jackie Chan. I guess that’s the next step – what would it really be like, meeting an internationally renowned martial and performing arts super-celebrity. In the meantime, I guess I’ll wait for the next time I talk to Paula Wallace. Hopefully it won’t be at graduation.
