Eagle's Voice

After my last teacher interview with Mr. Booth, I decided to interview Dr. Mueller, and she came up with some amazing answers! I first started the interview with the same first question in the last. “Why did you choose to become a teacher?” “I became a teacher for a number of reasons. Mainly, I think, when I was in high school, school was a place that filled me up. I had teachers that encouraged and supported me and helped me see myself as a person of value in ways I needed at the time. I wanted to be able to offer that kind of safe space and support in a sort of pay it forward way. I also think it’s really important to help students prepare for their futures, sometimes in ways they don’t even realize they need yet. Whether that future is college or trade school or work, it’s an honor to be a part of students’ journeys. 

I stay a teacher because in addition to the fulfillment of all that, it’s also fun. Every day is different, every period is different. I get to talk to kids about books and writing, and big things going on in the world, or little things like tv shows or basketball.” Next question, “What did you do before you became a teacher?” and she answered, “I got my position at Central right out of college. The principal, who was my principal in high school, called me and said “I hear you’re an English teacher. ”  The rest is a long, almost 40 year history. 

I did work on the boardwalk for a long time – 10 years or so – from the time I graduated high school into about the first 5 years of teaching. I also worked in a job that doesn’t exist any more – I worked in a video store where people rented vhs tapes of movies to watch. 

I have also been a coach at Central for a few sports. I coached field hockey, basketball, and soccer. I was even the head soccer coach for a bit, but I’m not competitive enough to do that really.” 

Next, I asked what the process of becoming a teacher looked like for her. “I went to Rutgers and majored in English. (Initially I was going to be a biology major, so I also took a lot of science classes.) I also did the teacher certification program at Rutgers. As part of that you go and observe classes for a few months. And you do student teaching. My student teaching was with sophomore and senior English at Cedar Ridge High School in Old Bridge. I was 21 and I had students who were 19! It was a bit nerve wracking at first.  But I loved it even then.” 

After that, I asked her what she would want to do for a living if she wasn’t a teacher, and she replied “If I weren’t a teacher I probably would have spent more time writing. I also love history and politics and civics, so I think I may have gone in another direction of public service and gotten into politics as an advisor or a speech writer or something like that.  There are so many issues that I care about in terms of social justice and human rights and education that something in those fields would be cool.” 

Next, I asked her if she would want to teach any other subject, what would that subject be? “I love to learn. I have loved pretty much every subject in school. I think I would really enjoy teaching in the sciences. I would love to teach history. My doctorate is an interdisciplinary degree in history and literature. And I have a master’s degree in Liberal Studies, so I’ve always been interested in lots of different subjects. There is so much to learn about the world – and I think the more we know, the more we can understand about the world and our place in it.  I’d love a school day where we got to mix everything together.” But why Creative Writing? “I’ve been dabbling in creative writing since I was about 4, writing little poems on a tiny pad in the back of my car on family drives. I’ve always tried to work in some creativity no matter what class I was teaching, English, or AP Lang, or AP Lit. I always enjoy reading and talking about literature and appreciating the genius of that, but there is something magical about tapping into your own genius and seeing what you can bring out. Creative writing is healing. It touches your soul in ways that other acts of creation do – like music and art. You can make up words and worlds and somehow in all of the made up stuff there is more truth than in a news story.” 

Then, I asked what her biggest accomplishment is as a teacher. “In a lot of ways, your big accomplishments as a teacher lie in the accomplishments of your students. I love to write letters of recommendation and be a part of guiding and supporting students as they venture into the world. There is a particular joy in helping and supporting a student as they go from not understanding or not being able to do something to being able to. I also get a lot of fulfillment out of working with other teachers and sharing things I’ve learned, and learning from them in turn. Being a part of helping people in our school community make the most of their abilities and opportunities makes this job very fulfilling. 

But the thing about teaching is that more often than not, you don’t know the impact you may have had because students are off doing their thing out in the world. You do your work and then you hope the best for students. But sometimes you get a little glimpse into the ripple effect that your work can create in the world. I got an email the other day from a former student who is in her 30s or 40s and has sort of recently started a job working with students and one of them said something to her that let her know that the space she created was welcoming for all students and is someplace they can be themselves, and that it made her think of me and her time in my class. As a teacher, there is no greater accomplishment.” I love these answers and I think they really describe how passionate Dr. Mueller is when it comes to teaching and creative writing. What do you think?