The teachers you pass by in the halls didn’t choose the teacher life, the teacher life chose them. These three specific teachers, Mr.Molina, Mr.Weiner, and Mrs.Vidal, have gone through a long journey to find what occupation they were best with.

In Mr.Molina’s case, he had it the easy way out. Before deciding to become a teacher, he was an athletic trainer for 15 years. At first, he never thought he would be a teacher. So he decided to rearrange his life for a better schedule and to find a better way to be a part of other people’s lives. The process wasn’t at all difficult for Molina. Since he had majored in sports medicine in college, he had all the science classes he needed. All he needed was the actual information of biology. In the year of 2009, when Mr.Molina was 39, he became one of the most favorite biology teachers in Gables and has been doing so for 5 years with many more to come. 

“I love being a part of my students’ lives and I love coming to work everyday,” said Mr.Molina.

Mr.Weiner is one of the most unique and helpful teachers in the math department. Weiner teaches regular and honors geometry as well as algebra 2.He’s not only a teacher that shows you how to use formulas, he’s also the head tennis coach. Before the teacher life came to Weiner, Weiner primarily wanted to become an engineer, although he wasn’t so sure what he truly wanted to do. His goal was always to have a job satisfaction and a mechanism for raising a family. Weiner decided to be a teacher because he was a P.E. coach for 4 years in a middle school and wanted to work both in a classroom and out in the field. Then, in graduate school, he was getting prepared for teaching. Weiner, at the age of 34, became both teacher and coach. At this very moment, he has been a teacher of the math department for 15 years and coach for 12 years, although he was teaching for 7 years before.  He has been a part of the Gables staff for 12 years and has many more to come.

“I didn’t see myself in the position of an engineer, but I made the right choice [to become a teacher]; I met my wife through teaching, being around young people keeps me young, and we [tennis team] get to travel a lot,” said Mr.Weiner.

Mrs.Vidal- one of the language arts teachers in Gables-  took her time to figure out what she wanted as a career. Vidal never really knew what career she wanted in the future while she was growing up. When Vidal was in college, she bounced around multiple majors. Started off as a business major, then moved on to fashion design, then exercise science, but never really found a major that appealed to her. Then, when Vidal changed her major to English Education, she decided she could become a teacher. Time went by, she got her internship and later became a full time teacher.

“After becoming a full time teacher, I realized that I wasn’t so bad of a teacher. Being a teacher is a career; I enjoy it, and I strive to do the best I can for my students because that’s what I’m here for, but being a teacher is not the whole of my being. I’m sure it has shaped how I view the world, but it’s not the end of my existence,” said Vidal.

Next time you see these teachers putting in effort into their teachings, smile and say thank you for doing the long journey in becoming who they are today. Try asking your teachers about how they became who they are today, you might even be shocked!