What do you enjoy about your job?

I love working with the kids. In particular, this age group I have. It’s mostly juniors and seniors. I like working with the older kids. When I was in school trying to figure out what grades I wanted to teach, what helped was student teaching and working directly with students that are your age and realizing that we can have intellectual conversations, we can have fun sometimes and it’s a nice balance. I also love the content I teach. I love history. As cliche as this sounds, I also love the people that I work with. I’ve got some great mentors; Mr. Dorman, Mr. Racine, Mr Holden, but the rest of my colleagues are just as wonderful. It feels like a family here and I think that’s what drives me to keep coming back. All the people. Not just the kids but the colleagues too. 

What’s something you wish you could do but can’t as a teacher?

I sometimes wish I could see what the kids’ lives are like separate from school and what they have going on because sometimes you don’t know about that stuff when you’re teaching them. You just see them as a student. It’d be nice to see them as people. What’s their home life like? What are some of the things that they love to do after school? What are some of the challenges that they might be dealing with? That kind of stuff. We don’t always get a ton of one on one time with kids to get to know them deep down. That’s something I wish I could kind of change.

What’s something you enjoy that most people don’t?

Sometimes I actually really like grading. I know that it sounds crazy but in particular, I like reading students’ answers to things. Sometimes they crack me up, sometimes they’re so insightful. You don’t realize that someone who is such a funny and lively person in class is so insightful when they’re writing an essay or answering questions. When It’s independent work, you kind of get to see that side of people a bit more.

What’s your most prominent or biggest personality trait?

I think that I’m fairly nice and lenient with kids and I think that that goes a long way in the classroom. Treating them as human beings. As just younger people that go through the same life experiences that you went through. Understanding that for me, it wasn’t so long ago that I graduated highschool. I’m still able to relate to kids. I think that acting like a real human being in class is a good trait to have as a teacher. 

What do you expect from yourself no matter what?

The best! I just expect that I try my hardest. Even if things don’t work out perfectly, if I know that I can go in and do my best and prepare and be ready and all that kind of stuff, then I feel like that’s all I can ask of myself.

What is a superpower you wish you had?

It’s gotta be either invisibility or flight. Maybe mind reading! That would be a good one. I would like to read minds, I think. Any one of those three. Take your pick!

What animal would be a good representation of you?

I’m totally a cat! If I could, I would laze around all day, bask in the sun and just not have a care in the world. Not have to pay bills, go to work, drive around, and those kinds of things. Just relax and sleep all day.

If you could give advice to your past self, what would it be?

It is what you make it. I really live by that. I think that a lot of things fall on your attitude towards them. Whatever perspective you take is how things often turn out. If you’re positive about things and look at the good side of it I think that’s a lot more beneficial than being cynical and pessimistic. It is what you make it. That’s my motto!

If you could ask your future self a question, what would it be?

Can I look back and say I had a happy life? Did I do everything that is set out to do? Did I accomplish everything that I wanted? Did I achieve my goals? Something like that.

What’s something you wish your students knew about you?

I think sometimes I wish they knew that I’m a person too. I like to check out of school and I’m not somebody that sleeps here all the time and spends all their time working. I hope that they know that I like to have fun and relax too and I probably watch a lot of the same Netflix shows and listen to the same music and stuff they do. I’m just like them, I’m just older!