By Jessica Velasco 

Carlos Magin in his current classroom ready to teach. 

 Early in the morning, Carlos Magin, 31, is starting his day in a class filled with students that are learning about the Spanish language, as he is a Spanish teacher at Azusa High School who has been teaching for two years. He was born in El Monte and raised in the city of Pomona. He started his studies to become a teacher at Mt. SAC, then went to UC Riverside, and finally got his master’s at the University of La Verne. He is very funny, kind, joyful, full of energy, and always finds ways to make people feel welcomed. 

The following interview has been edited and condensed. 

Was teaching always your first plan for the future?

No, teaching was the last thing I thought of doing. When I graduated high school, I really didn’t have a plan. I went to college then university, and I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to write. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to start by writing articles. Then I wanted to write newspapers and, at some point, eventually write books in Spanish. But before becoming a teacher last year, I was an instructional aide working with students with special needs for eight years. So the connection that I was able to make with students is what made me want to teach.

 What was a difficult experience and a memorable moment as a teacher? 

A difficult experience was when I first started teaching because you don’t know what to expect. There are a lot of things that you don’t know how to approach on top of the fact that when you’re teaching, there’s a lot that everyone is asking of you, kids, admin, and mixing work and personal life is hard. The most gratifying thing I’ve experienced was working with seventh and eighth grade students because just the way the students were. The kids were so welcoming, and they made me feel like I was doing a good job even though sometimes I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing.

Was there ever a point where you wanted to quit becoming a teacher? 

Yes, because throughout the process we had to do those famous TPAs, and those are not easy. What helped me move forward was definitely connecting with teachers who have a lot of experience. And all the feedback that I received from students. 

 Could you talk a little bit more about your working experiences? 

My experience, I would say, teaching is probably one of the hardest things that there is, I think, because you have to adapt to a lot of students. And with that being said, I enjoy being able to connect with students one-on-one and being able to get to know children and their dreams and their hopes for the future, so I enjoy that part. I want people to understand that there is a lot that happens behind the scenes and after the scenes. So if you teach from like 8:30am to 3:20pm, there’s a lot happening before and after. That being said, most students make the job worth it.

 Do you have any advice for novice teachers? 

Yes, I suggest that they connect with someone who has been teaching for a long time. I suggest that they do their best to absorb as much as they can. If you are passionate about teaching or working with kids, don’t get discouraged, and making mistakes is okay because we’re all human.