Joel Laguna
Thomas Starr King Middle School
Los Angeles, CA United States
"I really come to work with a smile on my face every single day, and that's what it's all about, right?"
Career Roadmap
Joel's work combines: Education, Writing, and Teaching / Mentoring
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
It's okay not to get everything right the first time. In teaching, you never know what kind of students you are going to get, and that's okay. Take it one step at a time and don't be too hard on yourself.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Political Science and Government, General
University of California-Los Angeles
Bachelor's Degree
Urban Education and Leadership
University of California-Los Angeles
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
While he was studying at UCLA, his friend asked him if he'd help him tutor some Spanish-speaking kids.
2.
He fell in love with tutoring; realized that if he was willing do it on the weekends for free, he could definitely pursue teaching as a career.
3.
Makes a point of not bringing out an "alter-ego" when he's in the classroom; says, "Who I am as a teacher is who I am in life."
4.
When he first started, other teachers thought he was just the "fun" teacher who wasn't actually educating his kids.
5.
Once his students' test scores turned out to be consistently better than the other students', those other teachers started realizing they should lighten up.
6.
He was the first of his family to go to college, so his mother didn't always know how to support him through that experience.
7.
That helps him relate to his students, many of whom are from low-income families, would also be first-generation college students.
8.
Says he loves his job so much that he comes to work with a smile on his face every single day.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
If I don't get this right, then I must be doing something wrong.
How I responded:
It's okay not to get everything right the first time. In teaching, you never know what kind of students you are going to get, and that's okay. Take it one step at a time and don't be too hard on yourself.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
Both my parents were undocumented, and we grew up in pretty low income neighborhoods. My mom was an amazing mom, but my dad was kind of abusive and things like that.
My parents got divorced when I was 5, so I was mostly just with my mom. There were a lot of things when I got to high school that she couldn't help me with, like college.