Speaker: Adrian Garcia, Physical Education Teacher
Please introduce yourself and tell us what excites you most about joining the Good Shepherd community.
Adrian Garcia: Hi, my name is Adrian Garcia. I was born in Lubbock, Texas. August 19, 1977. From the minute I was born, my dad wanted to leave Lubbock really bad because that's he just, that's all he knows. And so, well, at the time, that's all he knew. Excuse me. And so he got his plumbing license. As soon as he received that, pretty much wherever we traveled, that's where we lived. So, first was California. We moved, I lived in California for a little bit. Washington State, Louisiana, Colorado, Houston. And then when I was school age, we settled here in Dallas. So about the age of five, I've been here in Dallas. So very long I obviously consider myself a Dallas native. I enjoy Dallas and don't see myself leaving. I currently still live in East Lake Highlands so it's pretty much all I know. What excites me about joining Good Shepherd is, pretty much the students. When I first got on campus, the students impressed me a lot. The faculty was super nice. Everyone. The administration was super, super nice. I can tell the families were nice. And so I'm excited about that. I already got to meet my team, so I'm super excited about that, getting to collaborate with them this year. And lastly, I mean, I hear you guys are building a new gym. So that, that's something to be super excited about. I can't wait for that.
What is an interesting fact about yourself or something people may not know about you?
Adrian Garcia: What is an interesting fact about myself? I played sports all my life, so soccer was my main sport, but I played other sports so I wouldn't get burned out. I had a friend in high school who wanted me to join choir and I didn't know why he wanted me to join, choir so badly it's because he wanted to fill the spot. And so when I filled his spot, I didn't know at the time he quit. So I was in the choir and he quit. I have to say that I actually enjoyed being in the choir and actually stayed in the choir. So it was, it was fine, it was something new for me to do.
What is the best advice you ever received and who was it from?
Adrian Garcia: What is the best advice I've ever received from someone and from whom? Ok, so my aunt passed away during COVID time and at the time I was kind of going through some stuff as well. Like it's just, you know, burnout. I think I mentioned burn out about sports. So I've been teaching for 18 years and I'm kind of, I was like, getting burned out. And so when she passed that summer, she already passed that summer, she visited me in a dream and in the dream, she was telling me that I needed to stay teaching because you're good at it. And you love, you love to teach, you love to be around, you love to be around athletics. And you should stay like, basically, that's what she's telling me in the dream and to be patient, I'm like, OK, so after that dream, I was like, all right, I'm listening. So stayed obviously teaching and then this job, fell into my lap kind of, Good Shepherd fell in my lap and something told me to apply. And I did and then here I am, I'm joining Good Shepherd and then she just not too long ago, she visited me again. So in my dream and this is after I received the job from Good Shepherd. So she's visiting me again telling me, I don't know, I, I can't remember exactly what the dream was about, but I just know she was visiting me again, just I guess she was happy for me because she appeared to me three times in the dream. And so obviously, her spirit is still around us and my family, particularly my kids, I feel like she's guiding us. And so, yeah, I'm still receiving advice from my aunt who had passed, which is super spiritual and something I'll never forget. And I'm glad to be a part of Good Shepherd.
What's been the highlight of your summer?
Adrian Garcia: Highlight of my summer. So, my kids are actually in musical theater. My daughter loves to dance. So she's been in dance school. She's been in academy for a while, for dance. My son's been in musical theater. So now they're both at the conservatory program. And so they're, they're at a conservatory program for the arts. And, so I thought it'd be a good surprise to buy tickets to go see Hamilton at the Winspear. Winspear, that was phenomenal. They were so excited, to watch Hamilton. And so, we obviously seen it on TV, but it's nothing like being there in person. That's the highlight of our summer for sure.
What brings you joy?
Adrian Garcia: What brings me joy. There are a lot of things that bring me joy but if I were to pick one, seeing my kids do something that I've never done before because I grew up playing sports. I don't have any. Well, I say that I, I just told you I was, I was in the choir but that was by default, that doesn't count. What brings me joy is actually watching them perform because they truly love what they do and I constantly preach that to them, telling them that if it's something that you love to do in life, you should do it like as a career. And so I would like to end with, that's why I'm still teaching. I really love teaching. I love to be around students, love to be around families. I love to make a difference. I enjoy sports and athletics. And so if I'm staying true to myself, I will stay teaching and I will end with that. And I look forward to meeting each, one of you, throughout this year and, Go Cougars!
