University of New England

English Teacher, Kennbunk High School

My name is Andy Young, and as this is written (August, 2003), I am preparing to begin my second full year as a ninth-grade English teacher at Kennebunk High School in Kennebunk, Maine.

Although the route I took to my current position was an unusual one, I can state unconditionally that I am thrilled and privileged to be where I am today. I’m also quite sure that I would not be where I am today without the influence of the Teacher Certification Program (and several outstanding instructors who helped to guide me) at the University of New England.

Interesting Career Path
I began my career in education as a student (though not a particularly good one) in the public schools of Easton, Conn., during the JFK administration. Some years later, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Connecticut. After spending some time contemplating a career as a recreational softball and basketball player, I was convinced to put my degree to work. Initially, I did this by securing a position as a landscaping assistant.

When the compensation from that undertaking proved to be less than I deemed appropriate, I decided to explore other avenues. In the interim (a rather lengthy interim, in retrospect), I was convinced to try substitute teaching and coaching sports at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Conn. What started off as a short-term way to pay for my basic needs turned out to be two years of enjoyable and meaningful work with some really great people. At that time, many people urged me to try education full-time, but I resisted, mostly due to the fact that I considered myself fortunate to have escaped college with a degree, and I didn’t want to press my luck a second time.

Instead of returning to school at that time, I decided to try life as a freelance writer. I also tutored math and did odd jobs while looking for employment as a radio announcer in professional sports. I ultimately found a position broadcasting baseball games in Fairbanks, Alaska! I later obtained similar seasonal jobs in Durham, N.C.; Vero Beach, Fla.; Burlington, N.C.; Butte, Mont.; and Portland, Maine.

Peace Corps
While I enjoyed my work in that field, as time went on I began to feel the need to make more of a meaningful, positive contribution to the world in which I live. I tried a stint in the Peace Corps in Central America, but after three months, during which I lost 40 pounds (off a frame that my close friends had previously referred to as gaunt) and several important parts of my colon, I was convinced that I had a better shot at positively impacting society back in the U.S.A. than I did in Guatemala, where I was hoping to end world poverty and suffering by teaching basketball to 8-year-olds.

More and more, I felt myself being drawn back into education. Unfortunately, this still involved more formal schooling. And I still wasn’t wild about this idea, both because of my previous inglorious career as a student AND because I feared that getting certified to teach might cost more in both time (our son was less than a year old at the time; did I mention that I had gotten married and was taking steps toward becoming a full-time adult?) and money than I had to give.

Teacher Certification Program

At this point, fate intervened in the form of my wife’s suggesting, urging, demanding that I attend an informational meeting about the Teacher Certification Program at the University of New England. I went to the meeting, listened with moderate interest, asked some questions, and, while not completely sold, ran out of excuses not to give it a shot.

Two years later, the only regret I have is that I didn’t enroll in the TCP at UNE years ago. Every person I encountered in the program (both instructors and classmates) has been invaluable to me in some significant way.

Challenged, Supported, Energized
Although it had been nearly two decades since my last try at being a student, I felt challenged, supported, and energized each time I entered a classroom at UNE. Attending classes as an adult was not like my previous collegiate experience. When others in your classes are as much as two decades younger (or a decade older!) than yourself, you begin to see them as additional resources whose life experiences you can utilize in order to make yourself a more complete person and, ultimately, a better teacher and learner. Finding good friends, role models, and colleagues in my courses at UNE was a significant benefit that I had not anticipated when I began working toward my certification there.

Faculty Guidance
The faculty I encountered at UNE helped me wade through a lot of the administrative details that I might have had some difficulty with had I been left to my own devices. My advisor gave me excellent counsel on which courses I would need to get my certification quickly and efficiently. He also took great pains to make sure that I would end up with professors that would do the most to help me, as an individual, prepare for a career as an educator. All of the classes I took were small enough to allow each of us sufficient individual attention, but large enough to allow for a variety of ideas and opinions to be shared and considered.

As a teacher, I can honestly say that I am still a work in progress; and I will continue to be one until the day I stop breathing. My time at UNE taught me that learning to teach, like learning to live, is an ongoing process. While I don’t expect that I’ll ever be a perfect educator (any more than I’d have the right to expect perfect students), I do expect to try my best to get a tiny bit closer to perfection each day, one day at a time. And whatever success I (and ultimately my students) do achieve will have had significant roots at the University of New England.

If you’ve ever thought of learning to teach (or about learning about people who teach or want to teach), I urge you to look into the Teacher Certification Program at UNE.

(Last updated 8/03)