Background

We all know and love Mrs. Sullivan, but did you know she plays ultimate frisbee? Did you know she plays Legend of Zelda, and thinks Breath of the Wild was better than Tears of the Kingdom? I certainly didn’t know that until I interviewed her. You would think you could get a good read on someone, but most of the time, especially in this case, where asking questions can really throw a curve ball at your expectations.

Exciting stuff

There is a lot more to Mrs. Sullivan than meets the eye. She loves to travel. In fact, she dreams of leaving the United States and moving to Italy, though, she can’t decide where exactly yet. Somewhere she’s been to is Cancun in Mexico, where she enjoyed all the sun it can offer.

On a more personal level, she’s quite unique. According to her, she has always wanted a last name with some level of absurdity, like changing it to “meatball sub”  or something along those lines. Fruity drinks are her beverage of choice. No specific drink in particular, just any drink with tropical flavors.

Opinions on school

As a substitute teacher, Mrs. Sullivan has a few things to say about the school as well. One of the first things she mentioned was her love of students and their opinions. She calls a majority of opinions in this school “interesting,” which is something I can one hundred percent relate to.

To my surprise, her thoughts on the phone policy weren’t what I’d expected them to be. She actually advocates for a stronger phone policy, following the train of thought that students should interact with each other without technology. Some people may have some arguments against that, concerning the contact of parents in an emergency situation, but she makes some good points concerning those areas.

School sports was another area of interest she expressed. From what she said, she wished there were sports other than football that were considered important, or at least more awareness for the smaller sports we do offer here. I’m sure the participants of these smaller sports would agree with her on this. In my limited experience here, it doesn’t seem like any sport is as hyped up as football is here. Her overall opinion of the school and her coworkers is positive, being excited about the welcoming atmosphere and all the teachers who share her dedication to teaching youths.

Extra facts

On the slightly “boring” side of things, she has led a pretty normal life. In high school, she and her team at Troy won the state championship for softball. She is also well educated– attending Truman State University for psychology, but now she is attending grad school for library science. I didn’t even know you needed a college degree to work in a library before we spoke about it. While I think that seems unnecessary, it just goes to show her dedication.

She has a husband, Sam, who is her best friend, and married him in Maine. They have been together for a while, but she hopes to add another member to the family, and by “another member” I mean a cat. She loves cats.

Final remarks

For the end of our interview, I asked her for a piece of advice or words of wisdom to share with the student body. Her choice of words were:

“There is always a reason to smile. You just have to find it.”

I find this fits her personality very well. It’s a rare sight to see her not smiling, and even when she’s angry she doesn’t use a mean voice with anyone. Personally, I think she is a top tier substitute teacher, and I would bet many others believe that as well.