If I’m going to be writing about education, it makes sense to tell you a bit about my experience teaching.

I’ve taught, one subject or another and in one position or another, for the entirety of my adult life. I put myself through college in part by teaching for the American Red Cross. I taught lifeguarding, CPR, first aid, first aid for the professional rescuer, oxygen administration, AED, etc. After college, I worked as a long term sub in my hometown’s public school district, mostly at the local middle school. I also worked as a paraprofessional in a school for students with severe emotional disturbance, one of the more challenging jobs I’ve ever worked in my life. I taught test prep and academic support subjects for years with one of the major national test prep companies, which was an eye-opening experience in ways both good and bad. Finally, I’ve taught college classes at both my masters institutions and at Purdue as a doctoral candidate. Most of these classes have been freshman composition, but I also had the privilege of teaching an upper level class in public writing, deliberative democracy, and Habermas.

All of it has been my singular privilege. I love teaching, even when it frustrates me, and I know that it’s what I’m meant to do.