To carry on the Thursday Profile segment, I sat down with one of my favorite people in the entire building: Mr. Schussler. Even though it’s been two years since I had Schuss for English class my freshman year, I still visit him almost every day. He’s made me really appreciate the privilege of learning and has inspired me to become a better person, and I thought I’d share his funny and easygoing attitude with you.
- Which high school did you attend?
I graduated from Holyoke High School in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The Purple Knights, yo!
- What is your best memory from high school?
When I quit the soccer team senior year. The coach’s son was on team, and he missed multiple practices yet was always starting games. Me and my friend, who had already gotten our varsity letters, saw this as a complete injustice. We made a statement by walking off a field during a game.
- What clubs did you participate in in high school?
I was a four-year member of the German club. I think I was an officer too; I don’t really remember.
- What was your favorite subject in high school?
My favorite subject was German! I took it for four years. Herr Remlin was the best teacher ever.
- What were you like in high school?
A free-form radical. I could attach myself to the neutrons, the protons, whatever. I could fit in with the jocks, the cool kids… all of it.
- Did you like high school? Why or why not?
Nah, I hated high school. I hated school…school was not for me. It’s kinda ironic that I became a teacher because I did not like high school and barely made it out alive.
- Did you always want to be a teacher?
No, I think I eventually decided to become one because I just had such a horrible high school experience. I thought that there must be a better way. Plus, I was a writer first. The natural transgression for me was to become a teacher of writing. I didn’t switch until I had already been a writer for 10 years.
- If you weren’t a teacher what would you have been?
A writer. My college undergrad degree was in journalism; I planned on sticking with the writing thing.
- Any advice for students at OA?
Be nice. Kindness, and the way you interact with other people and yourself, is the single most important thing. It’s more important than grit, it’s more important than hard work, it’s more important than your brain. Be nice to yourself first. I see so many kids in this school that are not nice to themselves. They’re over-stressed, they don’t take care of themselves, they have no self-meaning or plan. They study, they play sports, they go to bed. You only have so much time to be sixteen, seventeen, eighteen… once in your life, 365 days. Not my rule…just be nice to yourself.