At a Loss

I love keeping track of what happens to students after I have taught them. Particularly as a drama teacher, the HOURS I spend with these awesome people makes me love them ferociously and for life. They just do amazing things in life. I have only been teaching for ten years, so the oldest of "my kids" is not yet approaching 30, so life is full of change and possibilities.

I am so sad to learn of the loss of one of these extraordinary individuals. He was a truly sweet, kind, patient boy, who wanted so much to do well, and did it. He gave so much of himself.

I heard him sing once while playing guitar and was so impressed. I "forced" him to play a lead character in our little show, "Into the Woods". He was a marvelous kid to work with. So fun and so good to the other kids. And what a great smile. He was always making us smile.

I have no idea what has happened, all I know is that he has passed on, and he is so young and was so truly good. It is tragic. Below is a self-written bio (written in 2011) I found on his university blog, right before I saw that as an Honours Philosophy student, he just won a research grant at Acadia. My heart, thoughts, and prayers are with those closest to him, including family and friends.

My name is Matthew Kohlenberg. I was born in Calgary Alberta in 1991 and lived there most of my life up until heading out to Nova Scotia to attend university. My main interests lay in the fields of English Literature and Philosophy which I’m currently double majoring in. My eventual goal is to take my Doctorate in one of these subjects and profess at a university. In my life I’ve been fortunate enough to travel a great deal, certainly for someone my age. I love travel and intend to continue doing so as much as I can throughout my life. Other interests are reading, guitar, ect. The usual stuff.