Drama and a welcoming high school helped him find his way back
Earl Poole compares his life to morphing like a cocoon metamorphosing into a butterfly, although he’s quick to clarify it’s a “manly butterfly.”
“I’m pretty good … I can honestly say, aside from a couple of real-life flashes in my face,” Poole said of his life now. “But I think I’m a lot more hopeful and optimistic than I was before. I think that just came with maturity.”
This is a very different outlook from when his world flipped upside down after his mother died two months into his freshman year. He had to leave the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, which he had worked hard to be accepted in and enjoyed, to go to Hahnville High School (HHS).
Hardest of all he had to leave his home in New Orleans and move in with his brother in Luling.
“There was a big shift with 14-plus years with a single mom and then creating a whole new life here with my brother from scratch,” recalled Poole, who is now 18 years old and about to graduate from high school. “I’m a people person so it wasn’t too difficult, but there was no real time for adjustment.”
Accepting what had happened and how quickly his life changed was actually difficult for him to handle.
“I kind of repressed the issues because there was no time for me to accept and grieve, as well as lay everything out,” Poole said. “I just figured it out as I went along.”
When he transferred to HHS, he said he just pushed through. Poole’s grades fell, which put him at odds with his brother who restricted his freedom until he improved them. The change proved equally challenging for both of them since his brother, 24 at the time who was used to parenting a six-year-old daughter, now was also raising a 14-year-old brother.
The big turn in the road of his turbulent life came when he opened himself up to Hahnville and particularly when he joined the choir.
“It was the thing that wasn’t completely taken from me, and so it was the closest thing to being in music theater,” Poole said of what helped him regain his footing in life.HHS also welcomed him.
“Immediately walking into Hahnville High School, they walked me into the school and it felt really warming,” he said. “It wasn’t like a sympathy thing, and I got over that resentment and realized it was a pure, genuine family atmosphere.”Poole stopped being upset with the world.
“Some people need a lot of time, but I was very fortunate,” he said of his turnaround.
His attitude shifted, he matured and regained privileges to do more arts and performance projects when he kept his grades at a 3.5 GPA or better.
Poole will graduate from HHS and is headed to Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. In the fall, he will study vocal music performance and finance with a minor in dance.He offered some advice to others struggling with such intense change.
“Don’t view the world as the darkest place because all you see is darkness,” Poole said. “You have to be open to positive possibilities so your hopes and dreams can move forward with everything. Surround yourself with positive people. It’s not an easy thing to do alone and don’t even think you can do it alone.”
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