
It’s more likely than not, that if you ask a high school student what they want to be when they grow older, most of them won’t respond with “teacher.” In fact, it wouldn’t be very surprising if you find them moaning at the thought of having to deal with people like themselves in a respectful manner. So how did our teachers come to do what they do? Why did they decide to condemn themselves to an eternity of school and dealing with complaining sacks of hormones? Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? But being a teacher is a real dream for some people, believe it or not.
Ms. Jones
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be Cinderella. I was gonna be the first black Cinderella! I was gonna have my prince charming and he was gonna come on his horse, and then I was kind of confused because my prince charming was going to be the frog prince because he was really ugly, but then when I kissed him, he was going to be cute. So I kind of had an overactive imagination as a kid.
Ms. Jones
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be Cinderella. I was gonna be the first black Cinderella! I was gonna have my prince charming and he was gonna come on his horse, and then I was kind of confused because my prince charming was going to be the frog prince because he was really ugly, but then when I kissed him, he was going to be cute. So I kind of had an overactive imagination as a kid.

Ms. Kuzmeski
What did you want to be when you were younger?
An actress or a policeman.
Why was that?
Ms. Piggy inspired me to be an actress and I thought it’d be fun: boas and being able to play pretend all the time. And then I thought policemen were cool because they were tough guys.
And what made you veer off that path?
Lack of support from my family. But besides that, I also had a lot of awesome teachers. Particularly history teachers. There was 4th grade, Mr. Mirand, who taught me about how the Spartans would wear red to hide their blood, and also 11th grade Mr. Bukak. So basically just some really awesome history teachers that made me think, you know what, if I can’t be an actress, I want to do that.
When did you decide to follow that route?
I had hints of it in 4th grade where I kinda knew that’s where I was going, and then 11th grade I was like, yep. I remember I even told Mr. Bukak I was going to steal his job one day, and he was like, cool.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
An actress or a policeman.
Why was that?
Ms. Piggy inspired me to be an actress and I thought it’d be fun: boas and being able to play pretend all the time. And then I thought policemen were cool because they were tough guys.
And what made you veer off that path?
Lack of support from my family. But besides that, I also had a lot of awesome teachers. Particularly history teachers. There was 4th grade, Mr. Mirand, who taught me about how the Spartans would wear red to hide their blood, and also 11th grade Mr. Bukak. So basically just some really awesome history teachers that made me think, you know what, if I can’t be an actress, I want to do that.
When did you decide to follow that route?
I had hints of it in 4th grade where I kinda knew that’s where I was going, and then 11th grade I was like, yep. I remember I even told Mr. Bukak I was going to steal his job one day, and he was like, cool.

Ms. Plette
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be a Broadway singer. I went to college for that and I went to my very first voice lesson and they said, “No, no, no, you’re going to be an opera singer.” I said, “No, I hate opera… I had never heard it, but I knew I hated it. I’d only ever seen it being made fun of on Bugs Bunny. And low and behold I became an opera singer.
And was it great?
It was great. I sang in New York, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. I went all over the country. All over the world. It was wonderful.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be a Broadway singer. I went to college for that and I went to my very first voice lesson and they said, “No, no, no, you’re going to be an opera singer.” I said, “No, I hate opera… I had never heard it, but I knew I hated it. I’d only ever seen it being made fun of on Bugs Bunny. And low and behold I became an opera singer.
And was it great?
It was great. I sang in New York, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. I went all over the country. All over the world. It was wonderful.

Mr. Kemper
What did you want to be when you were younger?
When I was younger, I wanted to be a firefighter and maybe, you know in Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom or any major show who had a guy that wrestled the animals? I wanted to be that guy.
Like Steve Irwin?
Yeah, except without the dying part.
What inspired that?
I just really liked animals. My mom didn’t let us watch a lot of tv, but she did let us watch a lot of nature shows.
Is that why you became a biology teacher?
Partially yeah, cause I was thinking when I got my biology degree that I’d become like, either first it was a vet, but it was just way too many hours and too much money, and then I thought maybe a physician’s assistant. I always loved science, I mean it runs in my family. My mom was a botanist, my grandmother in like 1910 or something got a degree in like zoology. So we were, kind of—my family likes science.
Then when I got older, pro basketball player was pretty up there too but that went away pretty quick cause I didn’t grow to be like 7 feet tall, so.
My hero was Magic Johnson, and I wanted to be just like him, cause he always seemed like he was having such a good time.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
When I was younger, I wanted to be a firefighter and maybe, you know in Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom or any major show who had a guy that wrestled the animals? I wanted to be that guy.
Like Steve Irwin?
Yeah, except without the dying part.
What inspired that?
I just really liked animals. My mom didn’t let us watch a lot of tv, but she did let us watch a lot of nature shows.
Is that why you became a biology teacher?
Partially yeah, cause I was thinking when I got my biology degree that I’d become like, either first it was a vet, but it was just way too many hours and too much money, and then I thought maybe a physician’s assistant. I always loved science, I mean it runs in my family. My mom was a botanist, my grandmother in like 1910 or something got a degree in like zoology. So we were, kind of—my family likes science.
Then when I got older, pro basketball player was pretty up there too but that went away pretty quick cause I didn’t grow to be like 7 feet tall, so.
My hero was Magic Johnson, and I wanted to be just like him, cause he always seemed like he was having such a good time.

Ms. Karnes
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I honestly don’t know what I wanted to be. It took me a long time, but when I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a firefighter. Then, I remember a teacher in preschool telling me that it was a dangerous job and that they can cut off their fingers and I was like, okay no. And then I wanted to become a scientist and I told my grandma that, but my grandma said, “oh yeah, you know, but you’ve gotta stay in a cubicle all day long and you have to do a lot of math and you don’t get to talk to very many people and it’s a really hard job,” and I was thought, oh I’m bad at math and I don’t want to be in a cubicle all day long so I was like, “nope I don’t want to be a scientist.”
My dad was an architect and I was kinda always thought, “Oh that seems kinda cool, I want to do that too,” but he also told me that there was a lot of math in it so I didn’t even try. Later on when I talked to him, he was said, “No there’s not, I don’t know why I said that to you.” So I could’ve been an architect.
How I became a writer and a teacher is that I just kept following my interests until it manifested into something.
Did you ever doubt that it wasn’t viable?
A writer? Absolutely. But at the same time I always pursued it. I always knew that it wasn’t likely that I’d make money. I just knew from early on that most writers had other jobs. For a long time I didn’t know what to be. I had my first job at a publishing company, and I thought it was really boring. That was back in San Diego in 2007, and I did that for awhile but it was really boring publishing as I was just copy editing and looking for typos. It wasn’t very interesting and I want to do something that was more… active, and so… actually the reason I went back to grad school was because I knew it would improve my craft and let me like focus and develop that, but I would get the capability to teach, which I always kinda had in the back of my mind cause my mom’s a teacher and a lot of people in my family are teachers. I always had in the back of my mind that that could be an option but I only wanted to do it this way. I didn’t want to be an academic teacher. I knew I would want to teach creative writing.
If you could be anything right now, what would you be?
It’s really hard cause this is kind of my dream job because I get to work with people around the thing that I love the most, and I feel like that I’m really good at. You know what I mean, I get to bond over that with people. And then I also feel like this job gives me enough time cause it’s like, you get out early and a lot of vacation. It gives me time to write and think, you know what I mean, like when I’m not being busy at school. So I honestly really love my job.
So you wouldn’t be a best selling author?
I mean, yeah totally. If I had my dream job, I would’ve like sold my memoir for five million dollars. But I mean that doesn’t feel incompatible with this, you know? That’s just like the lottery.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I honestly don’t know what I wanted to be. It took me a long time, but when I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a firefighter. Then, I remember a teacher in preschool telling me that it was a dangerous job and that they can cut off their fingers and I was like, okay no. And then I wanted to become a scientist and I told my grandma that, but my grandma said, “oh yeah, you know, but you’ve gotta stay in a cubicle all day long and you have to do a lot of math and you don’t get to talk to very many people and it’s a really hard job,” and I was thought, oh I’m bad at math and I don’t want to be in a cubicle all day long so I was like, “nope I don’t want to be a scientist.”
My dad was an architect and I was kinda always thought, “Oh that seems kinda cool, I want to do that too,” but he also told me that there was a lot of math in it so I didn’t even try. Later on when I talked to him, he was said, “No there’s not, I don’t know why I said that to you.” So I could’ve been an architect.
How I became a writer and a teacher is that I just kept following my interests until it manifested into something.
Did you ever doubt that it wasn’t viable?
A writer? Absolutely. But at the same time I always pursued it. I always knew that it wasn’t likely that I’d make money. I just knew from early on that most writers had other jobs. For a long time I didn’t know what to be. I had my first job at a publishing company, and I thought it was really boring. That was back in San Diego in 2007, and I did that for awhile but it was really boring publishing as I was just copy editing and looking for typos. It wasn’t very interesting and I want to do something that was more… active, and so… actually the reason I went back to grad school was because I knew it would improve my craft and let me like focus and develop that, but I would get the capability to teach, which I always kinda had in the back of my mind cause my mom’s a teacher and a lot of people in my family are teachers. I always had in the back of my mind that that could be an option but I only wanted to do it this way. I didn’t want to be an academic teacher. I knew I would want to teach creative writing.
If you could be anything right now, what would you be?
It’s really hard cause this is kind of my dream job because I get to work with people around the thing that I love the most, and I feel like that I’m really good at. You know what I mean, I get to bond over that with people. And then I also feel like this job gives me enough time cause it’s like, you get out early and a lot of vacation. It gives me time to write and think, you know what I mean, like when I’m not being busy at school. So I honestly really love my job.
So you wouldn’t be a best selling author?
I mean, yeah totally. If I had my dream job, I would’ve like sold my memoir for five million dollars. But I mean that doesn’t feel incompatible with this, you know? That’s just like the lottery.

Audacious
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I wanted to be a social worker actually.
Why?
Well, when I was younger, the town I was raised in was very small and didn’t have many resources for people, so I wanted to be able to provide resources for people who didn’t have it.
So if you had the option to choose a dream job, what would you do?
Honestly, it would be to open my own school; similar to OSA but more of a community youth center, for parents and adults. You know, for those adults who want to come and take classes as well. Things they might have missed out on, but I would definitely want an arts and education center for both youth and adults. And to travel and share art. Share my art through spoken word and poetry. Definitely.
So you wouldn’t want to become a best selling poet or something along those lines?
Well you know, hopefully that would be in the package. But… you know what actually, scratch that. If I could have my dream job, it would definitely be to just travel with my poetry nonstop and share with the whole world.
So not the school?
Nope, just travel. Travel with my poetry, see the world, and share art. That’ll be it.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I wanted to be a social worker actually.
Why?
Well, when I was younger, the town I was raised in was very small and didn’t have many resources for people, so I wanted to be able to provide resources for people who didn’t have it.
So if you had the option to choose a dream job, what would you do?
Honestly, it would be to open my own school; similar to OSA but more of a community youth center, for parents and adults. You know, for those adults who want to come and take classes as well. Things they might have missed out on, but I would definitely want an arts and education center for both youth and adults. And to travel and share art. Share my art through spoken word and poetry. Definitely.
So you wouldn’t want to become a best selling poet or something along those lines?
Well you know, hopefully that would be in the package. But… you know what actually, scratch that. If I could have my dream job, it would definitely be to just travel with my poetry nonstop and share with the whole world.
So not the school?
Nope, just travel. Travel with my poetry, see the world, and share art. That’ll be it.