“I’m a teacher, but I’m also a mom of high school students, and I don’t know what’s going to come next, because I really like my job. But I do wonder, when my last high schooler graduates, am I going to somehow lose touch with the student body? The kids in my classroom are awesome—they keep me honest. They’ll tell me when my clothes are good for the day, and they do a good job of telling me when I’ve missed the mark. Sometimes, I need somebody to tell me I missed the mark.

I went to the University of San Diego, and when I left there, I knew I would never live that good again. It was so incredible. I actually thought I was going to go into the police force or the FBI after college, but I think my dad really didn’t like that idea. He told me to take Spanish and asked me to go to law school, and I figured, if those are his two asks, I’ll do it.

What’s funny is, what I thought I didn’t want when I was young is exactly what I’m loving now. I remember being a parent helper in the primary schools and thinking, Please don’t make me interact with the kids. I loved the cutting and the pasting, but not the kids—and now here I am. The best part of this job is interacting with the kids.

I just want them to do the right thing, make the right choices. It’s never fun when I have to discipline or punish—it’s a last resort, because nobody enjoys that, and I don’t think anything good really comes from it. My philosophy is simple: I’ll never ask a student to do something I haven’t done or wouldn’t do myself. I like to make things real. At some point, sure, the knowledge—especially in subjects like math—starts to outpace real life, but in this class, I try to bridge that gap.

I hope none of my students are ever arrested or searched or seized, but I also want them to have the confidence that, if they ever find themselves in a power dynamic that’s uncomfortable, they can push back in a healthy way—without causing the arrest. I think it’s fun when things are fun for me, because when I’m enjoying it, they usually are too.”