by Aja Landolfi, staff reporter 

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I’ve actually always wanted to be a teacher since I was little. I don’t know what inspired me but I guess I just like helping people so I guess being a teacher is a great profession to help people especially kids, I’ve always liked kids. Also I have family who were teachers, my grandfather was a principal in Korea, I have a lot of cousins and aunts who are professors and teacher, so I guess it might be genetic.

Why did you choose to teach this subject?

I’m actually an elementary school teacher, I’m certified to teacher elementary school so I was given the chance to choose any subject. I guess I feel more confident with math.

How many years have you been a teacher?

This is my ninth year.

What teacher had impacted your life when you were in school?

I had a few. I really liked my third grade teacher because she was really nice and compassionate and she was patient. I also liked my sixth grade teacher, he was into music, he played the piano and we actually had broadway shows, performed by the students so he would play the piano from beginning to end and we’d have nightly performances, so he definitely had passion for it and he took us to broadway shows when we were kids. He definitely put a love for broadway in my heart since I was little.

What makes you different from all the other teachers?

Well, I guess one thing I could say I’m doing differently is that I’m flipping my classroom right now. The flip classroom is basically when you flip homework and classwork, so instead of being lectured in school they’re being lectured at home through tutorials and then when they come to class, they’re being coached by me and I’m guiding them through their homework.

What sacrifices have you made since becoming a teacher?

Hours of sleep, social life, and money. Definitely in the beginning of my teaching career, now I’m learning how to manage my time better and be more efficient in school, but I still sacrifice time outside of school.

Has being a teacher changed who you are for better or for worse?

I think its changed me for the better. Actually I’ve come to recognize a lot of my weaknesses and how I need to work on those weaknesses because when you’re teaching you’re very vulnerable when everything just comes out, so you can’t hide from that so you have to learn how to deal with stress or frustration in a well mannered way.

What do you believe the ups and downs of being a teacher are?

The ups are when students show progress when they come to school. They come to school thinking that they can’t do it. As you guide them and give them positive reinforcement, they receive it. They actually start to take your words seriously and follow through with what you guide them with and you see a change in them. That’s definitely an up. I also enjoy my coworkers, so I like discussing teaching with them and just being able to work with a good group of people to help the students.

A down is when students don’t listen to what you say and you see their potential but they don’t think that they have it in them and so when you just see then digging bigger holes for themselves, so that’s very frustrating about being a teacher.

Have your students impacted you as a teacher?

Yes they have. They have encouraged me, because sometimes you doubt yourself in your profession or in what you do but when students give encouraging words or notes and letters, you don’t even realize how you’re impacting them. The feedback that they give you impacts the way you teach and you just want to be better.

Do you have any secret talents? If so what are they?

I like football. I’m good at football and volleyball. I play the cello. I started playing when I was ten and [though] I stopped I still like it.