Donnie Beauchamp: Remembering Donnie

Hello, everyone.

If you follow me personally on Facebook, you will have seen some of my posts regarding this already. But I feel the need to "talk it out." I'll hope you'll bear with me as I try and wrap my mind around this tragedy.

I've written and re-written this so many times, I honestly don't even know where to start.

It's funny how sometimes you don't realize how big of an impact a certain person has had on your life until they're gone. I had no idea just what a big effect this man had on me until I heard he was gone. And now, the saddest part, is I'll never have the opportunity to tell Donnie just how special he was to me. :(


I attended Nossi College of Art in Nashville, TN for 2 1/2 years starting in 2007. I like to joke that I went to Nossi during the "pre-historic" age, before they built the fancy new campus in Nashville, when the "campus" was spread out across three different buildings in Goodlettsville, TN.

Those were the days, the days of fighting with the Social Security building for parking :)


My time at Nossi was difficult, to say the least. I won't go into everything, but I was dealing with some major internal battles during my time there (namely my Dad's illness and passing), and therefore my studies didn't quite get the attention they deserved. I graduated with pretty good grades (B average) but looking back I could have given my schoolwork more attention. 


Ever since hearing the final news last night, I've been very out-of-it. I've struggled to accept this news harder than I ever imagined I would. I read the news on Facebook as I was cooking supper and immediately lost my appetite. It was a battle just to get the kitchen cleaned up. I was in bed by 8pm, crying.

"You don't know whatcha got till it's gone..."

The man in the photo is Donnie Beauchamp - "I know it's spelled like 'bow-shamp' but it's 'beechump,' trust me, it's my name." he would always say. He was everyone's favorite teacher. He was everyone's first teacher. He's been working for Nossi, in the photography department for years. "Forever!" he used to joke.

Donnie was not afraid to hurt your feelings. If your picture was a piece of crap, he would tell you, but he would tell you in a way that made you laugh, and made you realize that, yeah, it really was crap. The thing about Donnie was that he was teaching you when you didn't even realize it. His favorite thing was to tell you that your photo was good, but that it would be so much better if there was a model in a bright red dress with a fan blowing on her.

The fun part of being one of Donnie's students was the possibility that you might laugh till you peed on yourself. Donnie had an incredible sense of humor. He was quick witted and always had a snappy come back on the ready. Of course there was also the possibility that Donnie might be in the mood to set something on fire. :) We set off the smoke alarms in the old Cude Lane studio more than once. He was always up for a little fire. He taught us all how to photograph a drop of water, and a bullet in mid air. He let us create chaos and always managed to help us find the art in it.

There were three of us girls in the same class with the middle name of Nicole. So we started calling ourselves "The Nicole Club." One afternoon, Donnie turned us loose early, we'd finished all of our important stuff for the day early and he told us that we could use the time to do anything we wanted. So the three of us girls decide we are going to take the chalk, go outside and create a mock crime scene. We called it "The Nicole Club Massacre."

This whole time, Donnie has been standing up by the building, lurking, watching us with this silly grin on his face.

Finally he comes running down to the parking space with a bottle of water and starts splashing it everywhere. We shout at him not to mess it up, that we haven't finished the set up yet, but he's laughing and still splashing water. "Edit this in black and white and it will look like blood!"

Donnie was a fun guy, he was always coming up with things to make us laugh. Like this photo below. It was taken during a maternity shoot. Nossi student Anika Kennedy was expecting and was the subject of the shoot, Donnie, always the prankster, decided to wear her pretty blue belly bow on his head. He was also a fashionista. :)

Donnie was the teacher that was always pushing you to do better. After an afternoon in the darkroom I'd thought I'd printed an image about as perfect as anyone could. I rushed out of the darkroom to show Donnie and he said, plainly. "Yep, it's pretty good. It's not the best it could be though." He gave me a few instructions on adjustments to make and sure enough, he was right. In the end my photo came out of the darkroom pristine perfect. I had never been more proud.

He was always right up in the middle of whatever his students were doing, pushing us to our limits, showing us just how far our talents could take us.

During my Photojournalism class I struggled. Hard. In fact, I failed it. The first day of class when I came back to take it again, he pulled me aside and said "Missy, I know you. You're talented, and you can pass this class with flying colors if you just apply yourself. You can do this." And I did. :) Donnie believed in me, even when I didn't.

I have so many stories, I hardly know where to stop and where to start. He could always make me smile.

Donnie was caring. My favorite story to tell about Donnie has nothing to do with his artistic talents, of which he had many. It's about the character of the man himself.

One afternoon during our Product class (essentially advertising) I was getting prepared for an awesome Coca-Cola shoot. Donnie had been helping me plan for weeks. We were going to use dry ice and fun lights and water and maybe, if I was a good girl, some fire. Who was I kidding? He was going to set something on fire regardless lol! Anyway, there was a "prop closet" set up there on Cude Lane that was full of fun stuff, and I was doing a dry run of my set up inside the closet waiting for my turn in the studio. I was just arranging my glass blocks and bottles when all of a sudden CRACK! My back went out. And when I say went out, I mean it left the planet. I fell to my knees in agony instantly, crying and hollering for help. Donnie and two of my friends come running in and find me there in the floor, essentially paralyzed. After about a good 15 minutes Donnie and my friend Haley managed to get  me up out of the floor. Donnie offered me his roll around office chair to sit in and called off the coke shoot.

I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to miss a class. Donnie begged me to go home the entire morning. I refused, and instead worked on some edits on an old shoot on my laptop. I kept busy.

When lunchtime came, I couldn't move. So Donnie offered to stay with me while my friends went out and got me something. Lindsey brought me Taco Bell. Bless her. Donnie wheeled me down the sidewalk into my next class, but by then I was crying again with how badly my back was hurting. (It's the sciatic nerve, still bugs me to this day.) Donnie crouched down on his legs, got eye to eye with me and asked me again. "Missy will you PLEASE go home? You need to see a doctor." I told him no, I didn't want to miss a class. He finally told he he would arrange it so that I wouldn't be penalized for missing the class, but only if I went home to see a doctor immediately. "Please, please go home and see a doctor." He kept saying. After some more prodding, Donnie won, as he usually did.

Here's the part I always like telling, because of the goodness of Donnie's heart. I couldn't walk. My legs were basically jell-o. It hurt to even attempt a step. Donnie picked me up, in his arms, and carried me, like a baby, to my SUV, where he put me in the drivers seat and fastened my seat belt for me. He closed the door and motioned for me to roll down the window. "Get a bite to eat on your way home, and call me after you see the doctor, let me know what he says." I was laid up in the bed for 4 days after that, and every day Donnie would text me to see how I was doing. When I finally came back, he hugged me and joked that I would never ever get to sit my butt in his comfy office chair ever again, that the next time my back went out, I would just be "s-o-l."

Donnie carried me when I couldn't walk. How many teachers would do that? Very few. Donnie Beauchamp did it without pause. 


My Dad passed away during my very first semester at Nossi. I started in September, and Daddy passed away in the last week of November. I told Donnie about what was going on at home. He knew about what a struggle it was for me to make it to class every day. When I got home from school the afternoon my Dad passed away, I knew I had to let someone at Nossi know. The only person I knew I could call was Donnie. "Are you alright?" He asked me when he heard the tone in my voice. Of course I wasn't alright. I told him what had happened and he said "Take as much time as you and your family need. I'll handle everything down here on this end for you. Don't make any more phone calls, I'll tell everyone in the morning." And he did. He called aside each one of my close friends and told them what had happened and that if they felt like they needed to leave to go be with me that they could.


There are a million more stories about the 2 1/2 years I spent in the day in, day out company of Donnie Beauchamp. I graduated in April of 2010. It was at the graduation ceremony where I saw Donnie for the last time. I joked with him that I was so happy that I never had to see his face ever again. He laughed and said "What a miracle!" Then he hugged me and congratulated me for keeping my promise to my Dad and graduating college. I thanked him for everything he'd done for me over the past couple of years. After that, his attention was grabbed by other students, and mine was drawn to my family. Had I known it was the last time I'd ever see Donnie, I might have sat him down and truly thanked him for everything he'd done for me.
 


You never know when the "last time" will be. Live every single moment like it is your last and if there is someone special in your life, for the love of all that's holy, tell them! You may not have the chance.

Nossi College of Art lost their greatest teacher yesterday. Not only was he very knowledgeable in the field of Photography, not only did he have a great eye, not only was he everyone's favorite on campus, he was everyone's favorite in our hearts too.




It's hard to believe that his life was ended by such a tragic accident and that Donnie, always into something, has been stilled. I'll never forget Donnie for the things he taught me, the trips he took us on (including one where I came down with the worst bladder infection of my life, ah, memories.) or for the fun we had together creating art in the studio. But mostly, I'll never forget him for his heart.

 The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. 

The great teacher... INSPIRES. 

Thank you, Donnie.

Please remember Donnie's family in your prayers. His passing was so sudden and so tragic. Remember all of his students, current and former, our lives were monumentally influenced by Donnie Beauchamp, and they will never be the same now that he's gone.

ALSO, if any of the photos above belong to you, please leave your credit information in the comments below and I will edit in your name. Thank you!