Thank You For Being Such A Vital Part Of Our Team, Nicholas B. We Look Forward To Sharing More About You So Others Can Get To Know You Better!
Tell us a bit about your backstory and what led you down your current life path.
While working as a teacher internationally, I became painfully aware of how my own financial and cultural upbringing limited my educational and professional opportunities. I grew up in rural Minnesota and attended college less than 30 minutes from my home. At the time, I thought this college was my only option – I had worked for a full year after high school already, helping to support family, and was grateful that I had found a school close enough and willing to give sufficient financial support that I would be able to attain higher education at all.
After acquiring my degree, I worked in Japan and Hong Kong as a teacher. I worked at an education center promising the local social elites high test scores and entrance to world-class universities in the U.S. and U.K. The students here, though diverse and multi-talented, were not in any way more remarkable than my own classmates at my rural high school. Yet the educational support and financial resources provided to these students enabled them to achieve the kinds of outcomes the education company promised. I want to help bridge the gap between these two groups of equally talented students so that none has a monopoly on educational opportunities.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career?
I did not know what I wanted to do professionally until I became involved with international student groups during my undergraduate degree. I was part of our local Aikido club, through which I met Japanese exchange students. Through them, I began participating in other student groups and volunteer tutoring to help ESL students with their coursework. Making friends with people from dramatically different backgrounds inspired me to break even further out of my comfort zone and move to Japan to teach.
What is one thing you are most proud of achieving in your life?
I’ve become more proud of myself the more I’ve seen of the world. I’m proud that I had the courage to pack up everything and live away from my family and friends for several years. While I am happy to be back home, the experience and opportunities my time outside of the U.S. have shaped who I am and given me a unique perspective on global education. If I had decided to stay, I do not think I would have moved outside my state nor made such a wonderful life for myself, rich with deep and diverse relationships.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
My mother, despite growing up on a farm with seven siblings in a community which devalued education and diversity, instilled in her children the drive and passion to pursue education for its own sake. She battled cultural and gender barriers to finally attain a higher education degree in her 40’s. She is an incredible inspiration and always made sure that her children had fun and happiness regardless of the situations facing them. Even while she worked multiple jobs to try to support me and my three siblings, I remember her coming home and always reading to us before we went to sleep (or she nodded off trying).
What do you enjoy most about teaching/tutoring?
Teaching is meaningful to me precisely because of learning’s universal enjoyment. Everybody loves learning new things, but they often are embarrassed, scared, or hopeless at the starting line. I view my job as getting students to push themselves over that line and have seen many times the beautiful joy that comes with mastery and hard work. Even if a student’s relationship with learning or school is complicated and emotional, I never fail to see an overdue pride take over once they overcome a difficult challenge. All children know that learning is fun, and my favorite part of teaching is getting my students to remember that feeling.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I spend my free time at a local writing club working on a novel. It’s my first and pretty bad but we all have to start somewhere! I also like singing and acting, so musicals are a favorite of mine; I’m looking forward to joining a community theater group in the future once I settle into Chicago more. I have 3 cats which also demand quite a bit of love and affection, and the last bits of my time are spent designing overly complicated board games which I can force my friends to test with me.
Describe an amazing trip you took. Where did you go and what did you enjoy most?
My wife and I went to northern Thailand in 2022 and it was the most beautiful and fun trip I’d ever experienced! We took cooking classes and learned how to make traditional Thai curries and soups. We also visiting ancient temples with incredible granite architecture and histories. By far the best part, however, was the elephant sanctuary where we did an overnight visit. Not only did they have over a hundred elephants rescued from labor camps or given up due to age or sickness, they also had a cat sanctuary with over 1000 cats! Each cat had their own sweater that workers would put on them every single day since the nights got chilly. The staff were incredibly passionate about caring for the animals, and the entire experience left such a deep, joyful impression on me.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? What is it and why did it resonate with you?
I’ve always been interested in history and picked up For the Sake of All Living Things, by John M. Del Vecchio, when I was in late High School. It’s a story about a family who got separated during the genocide in Cambodia, and follows their struggles in different parts of the war. The father’s character particularly struck me: he was forced to work with an oppressive faction and constantly under threat from the government and his neighbors. Watching his dilemmas and morally grey choices highlighted to me my inability to judge the actions of people in situations far more complicated and dire than my own. This humility has always stuck with me.
The road to success is difficult and requires tremendous dedication. What advice would you give to a young person who aspires to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success? Focus
My advice would be to “look for opportunities”. Growing up, I felt I couldn’t afford college, couldn’t travel, and couldn’t have control over my own career as I needed to support my family. However, I realized that each of these was untrue as time went on. I now recognize how limiting those kinds of thoughts were. I’m sure there were more colleges that would sponsor me than just the one down the road, I just needed to look! Luckily, I was able to find new opportunities to work incredible jobs and meet amazing people, and it propelled me into some of the most fun adventures I never could have imagined. These opportunities were always there – I just didn’t know to look for them.
What are you most passionate about? Can you share a story?
I am passionate about two things: the philosophy of education and food. I’ve come to realize that education plays many roles: job training, personal enrichment, creating educated citizens, developing social skills, etc. Students, parent, governments, and community members all benefit from education but in different ways. My favorite question to ask students is “what is the purpose of education to you?”.
I love food of all different cuisines. I do all the cooking at home and grew up experimenting in the kitchen with my siblings. If there’s an event where you’ll ever get to meet me face to face, expect me to bring banana bread or mochi waffles.
