LEARNING WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES ME HAPPY
“I've started to realize the influence that I have on kids, especially kids of color and minority. I want to be a role model for kids—I've wanted to tell kids ‘You can make it to [a top university]. I've wanted to be that role model. Private school made no sense—they already had assistance. And certain charter schools (…) they already have the support. Their systems are working well, so I don't need to be there. I was like, I want to go to a school that is trying to help kids succeed. And then, as I got older, I actually wanted to make sure that the mission of the school is something I believed in.”
“In my twenties—I'm not going to lie, I was looking for the highest paycheck(…) So when I was looking at schools, I wasn't really looking at the school itself. I was looking at—Does it give me benefits? Does it give me the pay I want? Does it hit the numbers that I want? Can I get an apartment in the area?”
“When I hit my mid-twenties, I started realizing I need to pick the job that I will enjoy. And I would take a pay cut because part of the stress is in schools that just don't function well.”
MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS
I find the most happiness when I see kids who look like me, but also kids who don't look like me and see someone like me. And they're like, ‘Oh, wow! That person went to college. That person went to grad school. Oh, wait! He went to grad school again!’”
“So I find the most happiness when I have kids go, ‘Oh, I can do this!’ or ‘Oh, why do you wear a shirt and tie?’ And I'm like, ‘To teach you about professionalism.’ Just little moments like that. Those are my highlights. What I would miss most is my interactions with the kids.”
“Teaching kind of keeps you connected to the world. I know if I was in the tech world I would just be siloed into, like, AI and cyber security and crypto. And I would just have tunnel vision."
THE SOCIAL WORLD
“If I wasn't teaching anymore and I was, let's say, working from home, I would miss how language evolves, how lingo evolves, how pop culture evolves—showing kids that what they think is retro was actually ten years ago, or how trends change.”
“And also being with people who have like-minded interests. I think part of that is social, too. I have best friends at work. It is human to want to work with people that have similar interests.”
“So it's nice to be in a place where people care about kids. And then you can talk shop and you can also talk intellectually, but you can also goof off a little. So it kind of has to be this melting pot, because if I was just home I'd be bored.”