“It’s taken all kinds of twists and turns to get me here. I was not a good student in high school, but one of the things that made a difference was my first year and a half in college. My bad habits from high school carried over and I was a terrible student. I was sitting in trigonometry and one day, I had no idea what we were working on. It was like sine, cosine, tangent, and the teacher called on me to solve a problem. I was not prepared, but she was very kind and very patient and she said something like, “Come on, you can do this.” Honestly, when she said that it was like I had this light bulb moment. That’s when I realized that these choices I make, (even when I’m 18 or 19), have the potential to impact the rest of my life. I also realized that someone cared how I did; she cared about me as a person, and she communicated that in a simple, but meaningful way.

Then I discovered that I liked being in school. I practiced law for a while. I was writing cases and things like that and I loved it, but then after like 5 years, I hit a crossroads where I needed change. My wife was supportive. I got into teaching right when my oldest son was starting high school. It reminded me just how much teaching was something I wanted to do for a long time. I think when I was younger, I thought I would get a PhD and become a college professor, but my path just never took me in that direction. This is my 14th year teaching. I was teaching honors English and AP Gov, but I also taught civics. Six or seven years ago, the principal asked me if I would teach AP Psych. I like a variety of things. Before I was a lawyer, I worked for the United States Forest Service, both in Alaska and Arizona. I cleaned fish one summer in Alaska. I worked in a bookstore and I’ve done a lot of things. I do love teaching though, and for me, this feels like this is what I need to be doing. I feel like we try to get students to choose before they know who they are, and before they know what they’re interested in. You’ve got time to figure it out. I’m a big believer in doing something with your life that’s gonna be fulfilling.”