A teacher’s true impact on the world isn’t seen directly, and isn’t measured. It exists instead abstractly, as a butterfly effect projecting through the lives of students they’ve guided. In Cullen’s and my case, this guidance was in sophomore year U.S. History. Yet, it also extended beyond the classroom, in large part thanks to the unconventional culture of my high school. At the Paideia School, we had discussions (often about race, gender and charged social issues) in a Socratic method, called our teachers by their first names, and frequently grew close with them.
If we evolved to go through childhood in community, then today, teachers are the closest thing kids have to those 30 aunts and uncles that the kiddos had back in hunter-gatherer days. Beyond figuring out childcare ahead of their time, hunter-gatherer tribes also lived communally and transparently, less able to “put on a face,” or hide a health issue, than we are today. Today we often know little about the personal lives of our teachers, employers or even co-workers; we have no idea who might be silently struggling.
In this era of compartmentalization and stigma, someone willing to buck the trends and vulnerably share their story uplifts those around them more than they could know. I’m honored to bring you this interview with just such a person — my teacher and friend, Cullen Sacha.
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WaitButWhy on Procrastination (Referenced in Episode):
Why Procrastinators Procrastinate — https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html
The Procrastination Matrix — https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/03/procrastination-matrix.html
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#30: Talking Mental Disorder with my High School Teacher — Cullen Sacha