The Mayor

Today, the mayor came and talked to our kids. Not all of our students at our school–just APN kids and senior Government class ones. He wasn’t that exciting, nor was he boring. He was the mayor of Torrance, coming to North High, to speak to students in the Black Box theater. And since I don’t remember the mayor of Long Beach speaking at my school, this was a pretty big deal. If nothing else, he is the elected official that represents the city of Torrance.
Pat Furey is our mayor, and he talked about a lot of things that mayors probably talk about when dealing with students. There was the city infrastructure, the many hats he wears, what he oversees–some basic facts and figures for the kids. But I always like people’s stories, their chance meetings with destiny that led them to a place in their lives that they didn’t necessarily plan on. Mayor Furey had a pretty good story.
He grew up in Philly, so instead of living off cheesesteak sandwiches or throwing iceballs at Santa Claus during football games, he joined the military at 18. By 20, he was a policeman. He got injured and decided to follow a girl and move to California, where iceballs are not thrown at Santa. There was school at El Camino, work, and later in his life he decided to be a lawyer. I believe he said he passed the bar at age 44 and another series of events led him to be mayor. I realize that’s the short version, but it’s what he said that students needed to hear.
His story is the reminder of all the chance happenings that lead you somewhere, and sometimes you don’t figure out your true calling until much later in life. Many of our students think that lives are already mapped out for them–mainly by their parents’ quest for them to be something that fits the parents’ goals and dreams–and that detours are out of the question, which ends up being completely ridiculous in any reality-based situation.
I started college in the sciences, graduated from Long Beach City College with an A.S. degree (the S stands for Science), entered Long Beach State as an engineering major, but changed that to Business, then finally settled with English. I thought I would write, or do something in the media that didn’t involve advertising, but not a lot of jobs were out there. I substitute taught, went back to school and got my teaching credential, and the rest is history. That’s the short version, too.
My parents saw the ad in the paper for substitute teachers and told me about it. I spent four years at Long Beach Poly High School because I picked up the phone the night before school was to start and asked the girl at the sub desk if my papers were in order for that year. She sent me to Poly for a day that turned into four years. There was a move to Seattle. There was a move back.
The mayor was another good adult reminder that things change, that you have to adapt and adjust to them. Opportunities arise, and though I’ve passed up many so far, I know they will come up again. Tomorrow I will ask students what they liked or learned from the mayor’s speech, and unless I exhaust every breath from them, I doubt they will talk about his path to being mayor.
Luckily, I will remind them that paths are great, and certain roads should be traveled, but sometimes a tree falls across that road and takes you on another route.
People ask, “What will you do when you quit teaching.” One, I’m an ass so I’ll always think of myself as a teacher, in some form or another. Two, who knows? It’s the surprise that keeps us going.
Sadly, traditional high school classroom teaching offers few surprises.