Why I teach

I attended City College of New York. My plans were to be a psychologist; however, I found that my classes in biology were more stimulating to me. I decided to change my major. Since I didn’t know what I would do with a degree in biology, my guidance counselor advised me to follow a pre-med course of study. This would prepare me to do research or to become a doctor. I didn’t want to do research because I am a gregarious person who enjoys socializing, so I followed a pre-med program. My senior year I had to begin my applications for medical school. My friends were anguished over the possibility of being rejected by their schools of choice. I just didn’t care.

It was obvious that I had to find a new direction. Once again, I decided to think about psychology as an occupation. Research in the CCNY library led me to the field of industrial psychology — it was a high-salaried occupation.

I went to the University of Massachusetts, received a master’s degree and joined Grumman Aerospace as an industrial psychologist working on the interior design of the Lunar Excursion Module. Sounds exciting, right? I was bored.

I found myself sitting at a desk looking up dimensions for the size of numerals on displays and deciding on the positioning of knobs and dials for optimum use in the interface of man and machine. After a few years I was given an opportunity to teach a course in “Introduction to Psychology” at a local college in the evenings.

I had found my niche! I discovered occupational love! I was waiting all day for that hour of heaven in my working life.

After seven years in industry, I wanted to leave a very comfortable lifestyle and become a teacher. It meant taking a 33 percent cut in salary. It meant convincing my family that I needed to fulfill my life’s dream; it meant defining my life’s ambition.

My wife, Mickey, unselfishly agreed to get a job teaching in a nursery school and to give piano lessons to help support our young family; my older brother told us he would help us if we needed.

I wanted to find a position in a secondary school because of my love for teaching young minds. I also enjoy acting in community theater and figured a high school teacher is more likely to engage in classroom theatrics. Teaching in a secondary school would give me the opportunity to “do five shows a day to a captive audience.”

Fortunately, with my degree in biology I was lucky enough to be hired as a middle school science teacher in Freeport, Long Island. I discovered that a person could really love their job and could look forward to going to work. I found my passion.

I retired 25 years ago. The joy never stops. I still get letters from students who tell me that they became doctors or scientists because of me.

I am 83 years old now, and I still teach part-time. I can’t stop. I ENJOY it too much.

Those who can … should teach.
Those who can’t … shouldn’t!