From what I remember, you’ve mentioned that you once lived in Canada, what was it like over there?

Canada is a very friendly country. They were always very supportive of me and I always felt very accepted. They are a well educated and friendly population. It’s cold, it’s cold in the winter.

What type of music did you grow up listening to? If you can recall, what was your first concert?

Mainly rock ‘n’ roll you know, kind of pop rock ‘n’ roll. The first concert I ever went to… oh my, I can’t remember what was first. Wings, an early one, like in ninth grade, that would have been Paul McCartney and Wings… The Doobie Brothers, ever heard of them?

Did you always want to be a science teacher? When you were a kid, what did you aspire to be when you grew up?

I wanted to do something outside so I worked up in Alaska for Alaska Fish and Game so I though I wanted to do that for a while. I went up there and I applied for some jobs. It was bad timing and I finally decided I needed to do something a little more productive, so I decided to become a teacher. But no, I didn’t think about being a teacher when I was younger.

Do you have any hobbies? What are some of your favorite pass times?

I like outdoor stuff. I like to back pack, I like to hike. I like to read, I like to cook, garden… I read a lot of books.

You’re a biology teacher, you know a lot about science and in your field of study, you’ve learned a great deal about living organisms. What is one thing about living things, or life overall, that still blows your mind?

Development. How things developed, how life begins, and how consciousness develops.

Did you ever have difficulties with any school subject? If so which ones and were you ever able to surpass those struggles?

Calculus was very hard. I never did better than a C in Calculus… i’m not that great in math. What else… languages. I’ve never been very strong at languages. I did German and I took a lot of Greek, I was able to do okay, but I never felt strong at language.

We see that the science fair just passed. Seeing as you’re the adviser, what are some projects that have really stood out to you?

We had a really good one on transpiration, Eric Bravo-Moreno and Alexis Olivares. They did a really good one on looking at plant transport of water. Also, Mr. Gotts’s ninth-graders Jenifer Najera and Jennifer Cruz. They did one on physics with force and martial arts.

Life is so much different than i’m sure it used to be when you were a teenager going through high school. With so many things going on in the world, what are your hopes for this generation?

To be alert to protect freedoms, not to be duped into giving up freedoms for individuals and for others because of security issues, or whatever issues, but to take advantage of opportunities. You can go places if you take advantage of opportunities.

My biggest fear is that people worry too much about things and don’t take any risks, any chances, and they don’t take advantage of the freedoms that they have so they are tempted to restrict their own freedoms and maybe restrict the freedoms of others.

My biggest hope is that all of the young people take advantage of the opportunities and are able to expand and be able to do new and wonderful things. That’s what I hope my students do.

What do you say we as teenagers should do more in order for us to live life to the fullest?

Ask a lot of questions, be open, read books, and get out of the main stream. Turn off, you know, the main information sources we get and read broadly. Pursue what is true, what is good, what is beautiful.

Find out what’s true, pursue that, and make that important in your life, not just what works, but what really is true as you understand how things are. When you ask those questions, life becomes more interesting. If you’re checking the boxes, you’re just trying to work your way up a ladder, and life won’t be very interesting. But if you’re finding out things that allow you to pursue something more, to follow something in a line, be it from a religious perspective or from an educational perspective, you get to broaden yourself. The universe is a lot bigger than we can imagine. It’s big. So how can we pursue these things in order to grow to our potential?

Any last words before we close this interview off?

I hope my students are willing to take risks and ask questions.

Don’t be afraid to be wrong, make some mistakes, that’s okay. Experiment with things, get to know people you don’t know well, don’t be afraid of diversity and branch out.

Be brave, and go for it.