Q: Where did you grow up and attend school, and did you have any idea what you wanted as a career back then?
A: I grew up in Northbrook, went to Glenbrook North High School, and then the University of Kentucky. I started tutoring other students in chemistry when I was a junior in high school. That was the beginning of a desire, or some appreciation, of the profession of teaching. I did more tutoring at the University of Kentucky, primarily in chemistry but also in English.
Q: Do you recall what impact your freshman year of college had on you?
A: I was tutoring as early as my freshman year at Kentucky, primarily in chemistry and English. I was amazed that many students who get to college don't have much experience with formal writing. Much like Carmel, Glenbrook North was a very good high school, and one of the things I always tell our seniors is that when they get to their freshman composition class, they’ll see how bad most 18-year-olds are at writing. As far as chemistry goes, it was one of those classes (at UK) that would weed out pre-med students. I was always good at math, so that aspect of chemistry clicked for me. I also did a lot of tutoring in chemistry. Looking back, I guess you could say it is a bit strange that I tutored math, chemistry, and English, not what I teach today.
Q: When did your interest in government first begin?
A: While I was at Kentucky, I spent a semester in Washington, DC, interning in Congressman Mark Kirk's office, who was a freshman representative at the time. As a result, I got to do a lot of cool things. I was put in charge of leading tours of the Capitol when constituents came to visit and wanted a tour. I was the one who would take them around the rotunda and got to see a lot of cool things. It was an excellent experience, but also a wake-up call that I didn't want to be in Washington, DC.
It was a great time and a great experience, but also really important because I was studying and majoring in political science, thinking about not necessarily politics, but possibly doing Legislative Research.
During the latter summers, I worked for the village of Northbrook while still in college, saving money to attend law school.
Q: Did you eventually end up in Law school?
A: Yes, I was accepted into Chicago-Kent College of Law. It was a great experience, it's unlike anything else. I have a lot of students who are interested in law school, and they'll talk to me about it. It’s incredible how much reading you must do and how much information you must process. It really teaches you to think differently. Now, I was fortunate to receive a generous scholarship, so I didn't have huge debts coming out of law school, which makes it easier for me to say I don't regret it. Law school had a tremendous impact on just the way I think, in the way I approach and look at the world we live in.
Q: Let’s fast-forward a little. Following an uninspiring job with a local law firm, you hooked up with the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2008. How did that come about?
A: Well, first off, I was inspired by his candidacy. The man could give a speech, and what a super charismatic personality, right? Because the law market wasn't great, I contacted the campaign and ended up working as a field organizer, responsible for recruiting and training volunteers. For five weeks, I found myself leaving my wife in Grayslake, where we were living at the time, and settling into an apartment in Middletown, Ohio. Ohio is a battleground state, and it was an incredible experience. I worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, for 5 weeks. Again, it was pretty awesome. And then I got to meet Obama and shake his hand. For a politics nerd who was watching the results that night, once they declared that Ohio went to Obama, it basically meant he had clinched the electoral college. So, the fact that the state I was in, the state I was working in, helped deliver Obama the presidency was just an incredible end to those five weeks of exhausting and constant work.
Q: How long have you had a passion for government, and where did it come from?
A: I didn't really like my social studies classes until I was a senior in high school. When we talk about political socialization, most people get their political beliefs from their parents, but not in my case. One of my good friends was really interested in politics, particularly Bill Clinton and his political rise. He's the one who first sort of got me into politics. We’d go to Baker’s Square and drink coffee, eat pie, and talk politics as high school seniors. And then the teacher I had for my AP political science class during my senior year was also an inspiration. He was also a lawyer before he became a teacher. And so, as far as someone who is the most direct inspiration on the career path I followed, that teacher not only sparked my interest in politics, but taught me that just because I’d gone to law school didn't mean that I was locked into this, and that I could change careers and find a passion.
Q: How did you find yourself teaching at Carmel Catholic?
A: I was working for a small firm, and when I say small, I mean it was me and the principal attorney. She was dealing with some health issues, so it was just me, and it was not a great situation. Still, I oversaw probate—handling the estates of people who can't manage their own affairs, either because they're minors, because they're dead, or because they're what the law refers to as disabled adults, and that can either be people who have a lifelong inability to handle their affairs, or adults who develop Alzheimer's and dementia. At the time, my dad was battling his dementia, and there was something cathartic about working with other families that were going through the same thing as me. So, despite some of the miserable aspects of my professional relationship with my boss, I knew I was a good lawyer, that the clients I worked with were happy, and that I was doing good work.
But when my dad passed away in September of 2012, I sort of looked at myself and talked with my wife, and it was like, I don't want to wake up miserable every morning going into work. My wife knew I had always wanted to teach, and together we decided I would quit my job and enroll in National Louis University's teacher prep program.
In 2014, I was student teaching at Carmel with Mr. Halloran and Mrs. Smogor. I was teaching three sections of Honors U.S. History, one section of Upper College Prep Government, and then one section of Honors U.S. Government.
Q: When did you move into a full-time position at Carmel Catholic?
A: It was fortuitous, really. Carmel’s Social Studies Department moved world history from a freshman to a sophomore class. When I was student teaching that spring, they basically weren't teaching world history because the sophomores that year had taken it as freshmen. The freshmen were going to wait and take it as sophomores, and so they had relocated two of the social studies teachers to other jobs within the building. So, for the 2014-2015 school year, I was already in the building, had developed good relationships, and got hired right away. There weren't many teaching jobs at the time, so I'm happy I ended up doing my student teaching at Carmel, and that Carmel happened to be hiring full-time for that fall.
Q: What motivates you to keep going back day after day?
A: It's the relationship with my students that is most important. I teach mainly seniors at this point, and every year, as we get into late April and early May, I feel this wave of depression because I'm going to have to say goodbye to these kids. You go from seeing someone every day and getting updates on their life and what's going on. I sometimes scold myself, telling myself to be meaner next year so I don't get upset when this class leaves. But I can’t help it, and I want the students to be comfortable with me. I want them to be able to talk to me, not just about criminal justice or government—I want them to know I'm here to give them life advice and to prepare them for what they're going to see in college.
Q: What message do you try to convey to prospective families looking into Carmel Catholic?
A: Almost anyone who has graduated from Carmel will tell you about the community here, the sense that it's not just a place to learn math and science and social studies, but it’s a true community. You don't stop being a part of that community when you graduate. Anytime I go out in Lake County, I’ll see a student or a former student, or a student's parents. The Carmel community is just so vast and widespread, and you’re always met with a smile. We have an incredibly talented faculty, and the education a student receives at Carmel is unmatched.
Additionally, that sense of belonging in a community, and finding your tribe, whatever your interest is, we’ll always have a place for you. You will find your people, whether it's fine arts, athletics, robotics, or whatever interests you. As always, you will be embraced by the Carmel community.