TRACING THE TRACK TO TEACHERHOOD

How Trinity teachers found their calling

Article by Jack Aaron

Photos courtesy of Brandon McDermed and Christopher Newman

A common misconception that students have about teachers is that their instructors know from the beginning that they want to go to college, get a degree in education, and ultimately become a teacher, but this is simply not true. Some teachers start o taking care of rhinos, while some are defending pharmaceutical companies in the courtroom. According to science teacher Brandon McDermed, working at the zoo and in a classroom are not entirely di erent.

“ ere’s a lot of similarities,” McDermed said. “I always make the joke that I’m still herding small things into areas and making sure that they’re fed and taken care of and cleaning up after them.”

Brandon McDermed

Prior to coming to Trinity, McDermed was a zoologist. He said he always had a passion for helping animals even at a young age.

“I was one of those kids that was constantly rescuing baby birds falling out of trees, bringing home tadpoles, trying to care for them,” McDermed said.

McDermed’s passion for animals remained strong throughout high school and college. Just as he planned, he became a zoologist and took the opportunity to do what he was passionate about. McDermed rst worked at the Miami Metro Zoo for four years and then Disney’s Animal Kingdom for 11 years. e reason McDermed moved from Disney to Trinity is simple, family. When Animal Kingdom added the Avatar attraction, it altered the hours of the parks because of the bioluminescence e ects. Due to this change in hours of operation, McDermed spent less time with his family. He knew he needed a change in professions, so after consulting with his wife they came to the conclusion teaching would be a great t for him.

Eric Schneider

Schneider is a mathematics teacher as well as an alum from the year ‘05. After graduating from college at Sewanee University in Tennessee, Schneider was unsure of where he was going to go professionally.

“I was very uncertain of what I wanted to be,” Schneider said. “And then [I] started coaching, realized I enjoyed high school, and wanted to get into teaching, and I’ve loved it ever since.”

Schneider’s rst teaching experience was at the college level at Borussia University in Kentucky, teaching a management class on sports facilities. Afterwards, Schneider moved to the highschool level for education at Greenbrier High School, located in Tennessee.

Moving to Trinity nwas a di cult decisison for Schneider. He was loving his previous teaching job in Tennessee, but when he became an uncle, he took the opportunity to move closer to his family.

Christopher Newman

Newman is a fellow here, but before teaching he was a defense attorney working in the eld of medical malpractice, so he would help pharmaceutical companies if they were sued.

After being an attorney for four years, Newman realized he was not ful lled with his job, so he took some time to re ect and switched professions to real estate. After another four years, this time as a real estate agent, Newman took time to re ect and plan for his future.

“I thought very carefully and intentionally about my strengths in particular, the things I like doing and the things I was good at,” Newman said. “And as I thought more and more about those, I kept thinking to myself, God, this looks like a teacher.”

Newman is now pursuing a full-time teaching contract, hoping to stay here at Trinity. His experience in a variety of jobs has allowed him to discern that it is okay to not nd the profession right for you on your rst try.

“Don’t stress or worry about the fact that you may not know exactly what you want to do in life, it’s okay,” Newman said. “It’s okay to change. You might get it wrong.… And it’s okay to follow your heart and chase whatever is right for you.”