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MICHAEL
ARNOLD
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Until I
was 16, the destination for every move my family made seemed as
diametrically opposed to the previous location as possible:
Arkansas to Japan, Japan to Wyoming, Wyoming to Palatka, Palatka
to St. Augustine, St. Augustine to Colorado, and back to St.
Augustine. At the time, seeing a group of friends in a rearview
mirror seemed harsh and cruel, but I came to understand that
experience allows us to be more objective and less insular. An
education allowed me to title these feelings I could not quite
name. Literature allowed and allows me to learn from the great
minds humanity builds and experience is gained vicariously. I
believe that an education allows us to circumvent the years and
attain identity sooner and with less empirical tribulation.
Walking into my first classroom at UNF where I was to begin my
career in teaching, I soon discovered that I had chosen my
profession well. I felt the familial pull toward teaching that
so many others in the Arnold tribe had partaken or are still
practicing: mother, father, stepfather, sister, mother-in-law,
father-in-law, brother-in-law. It was after the first class of
the first day that I knew I was in my element. With six years of
college in my wake, I was relieved that this was the case.
Last year, I was teaching at Flagler College, and I received an
email. St. Joseph Academy was looking for an instructor who
would be teaching literature. The idea of discussing the great
works with impassioned and interested young minds, and knowing
that I could be part of fomenting an intellectual self-defense
and intellectual burgeoning in these students, I moved quickly.
I literally had my resume, letter of application, and
transcripts collected and sitting before Sister Suzan two hours
after I had received the email.
The vast majority of the time, my classes are filled with joy
and the thrills of becoming empowered. I state this of myself as
well as for my students. I have learned more as a teacher from
my students than I did as a student.
I received my BA in English at Flagler College and my MA in
Literary Criticism at UNF.
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