Pali High’s Mystic Thompson Spreading Courage Like Kudzu

Asking 800 high school students to attend a presentation by one of their teachers who will be discussing their new book could elicit some eye-rolling. But not when the instructor is Palisades Charter High School physical education teacher Mystic Thompson and her new Young Adult coming-of-age novel Fighting Kudzu explores the topic of sexual orientation.

“It was so amazing,” Thompson said of the way students responded to the two presentations, which also included a discussion about her new non-profit organization Give A Dime, described as a campaign to promote kindness. “The kids were attentive and had such intelligent questions.”

Thompson told the Palisadian-Post that she and a panel of two other “out lesbians” including actress Guinevere Turner of The L Word fame answered students’ questions about the book and sexual identity. Student actors performed select scenes from the novel.

Fighting Kudzu is about a young girl who grows up amidst parental alcoholism and adultery before eventually coming out as a lesbian.

Thompson said the novel is “based in large part on [her] own experiences” and is ultimately a story of self-discovery.

As for the novel’s protagonist Noble Thorvald, Thompson said, “She’s like the version of me that I wish I had been.”

The presentations were given the day before National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11. Thompson, who has been teaching P.E. at Pali High for six years, said multiple students have come to her thanking her for giving them the courage to come out as gay or lesbian.

“It’s a gift – especially if they haven’t told anyone else,” Thompson said.

A Teacher’s Influence, A Student’s Courage

Jane, not her real name, a female student at Pali High who had Thompson as her P.E. teacher both freshman and sophomore years, said she was relieved to find an adult with whom she could talk openly about her own sexual orientation.

“She’s such a good person,” Jane said of Thompson. “She is one of the most inviting and approachable teachers. There’s never really been an adult for me to talk to about [being a lesbian]. It’s nice when you know there are teachers you can relate to.”

Jane said her parents are still working on accepting her sexual orientation.

“My biggest fear was coming out at school,” she said, adding that most of her peers have been wonderful. “This is the most accepting school.”

Jane said there have only been a couple of incidents where she experienced some adversity from other students.

“Nobody’s going to change the way he thinks,” Jane said of a student who was particularly mean to her years ago. And expressing wisdom beyond her years, she added that in those moments she wants to remind people that if they have a problem with her sexual orientation, “That’s a you problem.”

Jane, who said there are still some people who aren’t okay with her being open about her sexual orientation, added, “The most important thing is to be comfortable with yourself.”

Then and Now

“As a kid I wanted to grow up and be a writer,” said Thompson who disclosed that she knew the title of her book Fighting Kudzu by the age of 15 – even though she wouldn’t write it for another 30 years.

Kudzu is an invasive plant species that Thompson said destroys everything in its path and grows between 6 and 12 inches a day, adding that the plant is no stranger to Atlanta, Georgia where she was raised along with an older brother and sister.

While the family was looking at a property to buy when she was around 12 years old, her father noticed an adjacent field covered in kudzu. The family decided against the purchase, her father saying, “Because you can’t fight kudzu.”

The moment, and the phrase, would stick with Thompson as she grew up and would evolve into not only the title of her first book, but also an inspiration for her positive outlook on life.

“It’s almost like the more you try to get rid of it, the more it comes back,” Thompson said of the noxious vine. “It’s a metaphor for things you’ll fight for your whole life. Everybody has something they’re always trying to overcome.”

For Thompson, who said she always knew she was a lesbian, fighting to be accepted among her peers and even some family members would be an ongoing struggle.

“If you don’t come out [as gay or lesbian], people assume you’re straight,” she said.

Thompson remembers in detail when she came out to her parents. “My dad accepted it but didn’t want to hear about it…For a long time I had these two separate lives.”

During a 15-year stint at a school in Georgia where Thompson taught and then assumed a role in administration, discrimination and prejudice reared its ugly head when she eventually came out more openly with parents and students.

“Parents called me a pedophile,” Thompson said. “I started feeling like maybe [the administration] didn’t really have my back… It was a horrible time in my life, but it all happened for a reason.”

Thompson started teaching at Pali High in 2009 and said she feels completely comfortable in her new school where her book is spreading courage like kudzu.

“I have had nothing but positive responses from the kids as they are reading the book,” Thompson said. “It has been very sweet.”

Fighting Kudzu has been optioned for a film and Thompson is currently working on the screen adaptation. She has been nominated by her publisher for the Lambda Literary Foundation Award and the Golden Crown Literary Society Award in the areas of Young Adult Fiction.

Fighting Kudzu is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.