Stephen is currently a teacher at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, Newark, NJ.
One of the most important things that has stayed with me from my experience at the Scala Summer Seminar was the imperative to put my own curiosity before anything else. I was so moved by Professor Mooney’s excitement to be in class, which sparked important conversations and brought life to the seminars. It’s easy for me to get fixated on getting certain things done in class, to the point that I lose sight of why I’m even teaching in the first place. Before I go into class, I now ask myself “what I am looking to learn from my students today?” and “how does this content fascinate me?” This attitude has made my work so much more exciting and lively.