“My name is Eugene. I’ve lived in the Pasadena area since 2002. I’m a husband. I’m a father. I teach at John Muir High at Pasadena Unified, and I teach at PCC – been doing that for about three years. I teach engineering and design.
You know, I grew up in the 80’s with movies like ET, and Star Wars, and Star Trek. My parents, they put me in Space Camp probably in the third grade in Alabama. That was a great experience. I think just growing up in that time, it was always science, and engineering, and exploration. Wanting to be an astronaut, things like that. As I got into high school and thought about college, I thought engineering and design would be a good career option. It’s also something very creative. I studied aerospace engineering, and then I studied mechanical engineering. I’ve been interested in like, energy, and uses of energy, and energy applications. So I worked in fuel cells for a while.
As a teacher, I do [work on projects], so it gives me a lot of freedom to do whatever I want compared to working in a lab environment for a long time and being told what to do every day. So, like, we have an annual solar cup race, where students race solar-powered boats. I think in terms of trying to engage high school students, it’s something fun, something that’s cool. I think for me, it’s always like, I want students to be able to make decisions. I want them to be good designers. I think for students, it’s like how much money does it cost? How much time do we have? But also like, energy conservation. Basically like making decisions like adults, but also having fun at the same time. I think kids like toys, but they also want to think about becoming an adult, so like, how can they apply it to a career?
I guess working mostly with young adults, I try to be connected to what are the careers that are opening up. So particularly in Southern California, Pasadena, there’s JPL, there’s CalTech. Southern California is home to SpaceX, one of the first private companies for space exploration. So with my interests in aerospace, how can I give kids a leg up? And again, being an engineering teacher, not just teaching them math and science, but exposing them to all the different technology that they might use: so 3D design, software programs like that. I teach a lot of CAD but also hand-sketching, programming, so getting them used to code. So what does design mean beyond drawing on a piece of paper. And then also like budgeting, and project management. Working in teams – which seems to be the hardest part with high school students.
At the age of 14, did you know what you want to do? Most high school kids – they just want to have fun and be with their friends. And I think it’s trying to get them to think about what’s going to happen afterwards. Because if you’re not motivated, I can’t really teach you anything. As opposed to community college students, where they’re like, they’re paying bills for the first time, or they have children, or they have debt. So they’re much more motivated, but also, their interests are more varying. They might not be interested in engineering, but they might want to learn CAD. So I might get students from the design industry or students who are interested in medicine, students who are interested in anime. So they might want to use it for different specific interests of their own that might not be exactly what I want. I think I have to be a little more like, a little more open to what students want to do in community college. Whereas high school, I’m really trying to prepare them for the best opportunity – even if it’s not what they want to do – just so that they have it as a choice. ‘Cause they think engineering, ‘Oh, I don’t know what that is.’ But they know what being a mechanic is, what being a technician is. Just trying to make it seem real and possible for high school students.
I mean, you know, [becoming a teacher] was a lot of things. It was getting married. I was working a lot of part-time jobs after I finished my work at CalTech. And I had done some part-time teaching and had some experience in it. I might go back into the industry, into research, but I think if I can continue to support my family and teach full-time – I enjoy the freedom that teaching allows. But, you know, it has its benefits. I think being in a lab environment, I’m probably closer to something that’s cutting edge. When I was in the lab, I was working by myself most of the time. And then being in the industry environment, you’re trying to meet a budget, trying to meet a deadline – and it wasn’t always in the most interesting, most creative, most effective way.
I was really inspired to teach from teachers and people that I had known. Where I studied at UCSD, I had some really good teachers there. George Lipsitz: he was a professor of ethnic studies at UCSD. And again, he was an ethnic studies teacher, not an engineering professor. But just the way he taught, like there are people that try to use hip hop or pop culture in the teaching context, and it comes off sort of corny? And he would like, end a lecture with Tupac, and it would totally relate to the content of what he was talking about. Also, I do an art form called capoeira. My teacher is Mestre Amen Santo. He teaches a group in Culver City. The name of the group is Batuque. He’s been in my life for a good twelve years. So having an adult in your life who can talk about teaching, and talk about their profession, and talk about the mistakes they made – I feel like that’s been sort of rare for me. I think sometimes you have teachers, and they’re like, ‘Alright. I’m done with my class. Bye.’ So yeah, just to have like, continuing adult relationships, or to have great examples of people who do it well, makes a difference. And I teach a little bit at the high school. Yeah, I get to kick kids after school, so it’s great.”
Excerpt may be edited for clarity.