Interviewing Roffino: Why English?

In a recent interview with some Eastfield College advisors, they asked me a few good questions that I thought i might share here too. It may help students better understand how at least one person found his way to a career field that did essentially blend some passions and interests.

1. How did you become interested in English, and why did you want to teach it?

Honestly, I couldn’t decide what to major in, so I rolled the dice and picked Archaeology. When those classes ended up being awfully slow (and all mysteriously scheduled for 8am), I started going down the alphabet and switched to Botany.

Actually, I’m kidding.

Truth is, being asked to pick ONE field and career at 18 was really scary, so I stayed “general studies” for far too long. It wasn’t until my junior year that I really started paying attention to myself and noticing that I didn’t mind doing the reading and homework in certain classes. I loved the communication classes that taught me how to get what I wanted and how to argue carefully. I was passionately pissed off when I learned in my gender and communication classes about our patriarchal society and wanted to make a difference. I was shocked and slightly ashamed when I learned in my American history classes about the real story of race in the US, and I wanted to learn what else I didn’t know. I also had always loved storytelling. It was the secret teddy bear I had carried with me from youth, but I learned not to be ashamed of it, to embrace it instead. Fiction writing ended up being an excellent way to pull my passions together and share the things I wanted others to know.

I loved my first two years of college for the fun and independence as well as the increased responsibility and growth. In fact, I have a lot of stories from that time that I’m not proud of, but I occasionally share some of these pearls to help my students see. One thing I learned is that it’s okay to make colossal mistakes. As a great thinker once said in a galaxy far, far away: “The greatest teacher, failure is.” For example, I learned when I got fired for the first time that there are consequences to mis-prioritizing my actions. That’s a story for another day.

I loved my last two years of college because I finally discovered curiosity and was finally brave enough to look stupid. For much of my life, when I didn’t understand something, I pretended I did or changed the subject. I thought showing I didn’t know everything was a risk and would make people realize I was a failure, but that inhibited me from really learning. I finally started taking the risks and chanced looking stupid so that I could ask questions. This risk-taking, the feeling the fear and doing it anyway, helped me open up the world and explore what and where I wanted.

My curiosity led me down rabbit holes and to more specific fields and possibilities. Many were revelatory. Some were not. I learned about mapping social networks and tracing the growth of ideas, long before there was social media to facilitate this. Long before other nations started using social media to infect our population with propaganda. I learned about fiction that had the power to make people collapse with feeling, stories that are so true, they help others understand life, understand themselves. I explored the world and my mind and I am stronger because of that work. I wish I had been curious sooner, and let that curiosity motivate me more, but I’m glad I had the journey I did.

So wait, what was the question again? The source of my interest in English? English just encapsulates so many skills that are WORTH improving: I break my class into four big skills areas: 1) Reading, 2) Writing, 3) Thinking, and 4) Life. Developing all of these is necessary for a fulfilled life. Reading is the fastest path to growth and learning and being better. Writing is the fastest path to better understanding oneself and to influencing the world in which one lives. Thinking is how we “level up” everything, and the easiest way to develop thinking is by finding the right questions. Life, well, life skills are the foundation of everything else. No one can complete an English class if she/he doesn’t have enough skills practice in managing time or increasing initiative and motivation.

People ask me whether I still believe all Americans should go to college. I mean, should all vet techs have a clear understanding of sociology? Do circus clowns really need to know Texas history? I can’t say for certain. I do believe though that all human beings should have the ability to think and express themselves, and a college English class with thought provoking assignments and a careful professor guide is the best place to water those seeds.