by Kori Washington

For some teachers, teaching is something that they have wanted to do their whole lives. For others, it may take a little longer to figure out what they’re really passionate about. That’s the exact situation English teacher Justin Linde found himself in.

From a young age, Linde had always known that he loved English and literature, but once he got to college, that’s when he knew those were not the only subjects that he actually cared about. 

“I started realizing that I wanted to study more than just literature. I wanted to study more than just that subject. I did more than just literature. I wanted to study all the aspects. I wanted to know about the history, the historical context. I wanted to know about the cultural and artistic background of literature. And I realized that all of my interests aligned with philosophy,” said Linde.

Although Linde knew he loved philosophy and English, he questioned himself about pursuing his interests as a career path. So he continued taking classes at the University of Louisville, but he had limited time.

“I got a scholarship to attend the University of Louisville, so I went to U of L and declared myself an English major. That was my original major. For the first year or two, I was just taking my general ed classes, but I also took English classes,” stated Linde.

Linde recalls his love for philosophy started when he first began reading books about the subject early in his education.

“So probably in middle school, I started encountering philosophers, but it wasn’t probably until high school that I started reading philosophers and philosophy on my own,” he said.

But the one philosopher who stuck out the most was a German philosopher named Nietzsche, and Linde became interested in him because he felt he could relate to him. 

Although Linde had finally found his passion, his journey to pursue it wasn’t easy. 

“I was at U of L for five years, and I didn’t finish my degree. And I said, you know what, I’ve spent all the scholarship money, and now I have to pay for things on my own. So I was like, I can’t afford this. I’m going to take a year off, figure things out,” he stated.

During Linde’s year off, he moved to Indiana because his job offered him more pay. While moving, Linde decided that it was time to go back to school, so he transferred all his college credits to IUS, where he majored in philosophy.

“So I transferred my college credits to IUS and took all those missing classes that I needed, and I finally graduated with my bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2013,” he said. 

Linde spent years thinking about what his next moves should be after graduating.

“After many plans fell through, I kept working at Meijer, and then finally, one day it dawned on me. Why did I never decide to teach high school? Because sometimes I dreaded going to school, but I loved the teachers,” said Linde.

Linde started taking an online program to get his license to teach, which took him two years, and later went back to get his master’s degree. Although Linde had finally gotten his dream job, his journey still wasn’t over.

“When I started teaching, the challenge was that I hadn’t been teaching, so I didn’t have the experience, and that was challenging because I felt they knew I just started, so they took advantage of that,” said Linde.

Although Linde saw the challenges of starting teaching later than other teachers, others saw it as an advantage because of his different perspective on things.

“Unlike many other teachers, Mr. Linde is fairly flexible about his daily curriculum; he is willing to adjust the assignments or lessons planned to better tailor the class to meet his students’ needs,” said senior Tristan Cooley. 

“Something that makes him stand out is how he goes through each assignment step by step and is very patient and understanding with his students,” said sophomore Jonayazia Dickerson. 

Starting his teaching career later in life gave Linde a different perspective on how he teaches his students.

“I like to introduce some of the other philosophers to my students. I think that makes me different because I want to teach kids how to think like philosophers and I want them to focus on philosophical big ideas,” he said. 

Before making his way into teaching high school students, Linde gained experience that helped him understand how to work with students and their different emotions and  personalities.

“In customer service, you often have to deal with angry customers. and I think you have to learn how to deal with conflict and conflict resolution, and that transfers to the classroom. Because when students are struggling or having personal problems that spill out into the classroom. And as a teacher, you have to learn how to manage that,” stated Linde.

While his past job taught him how to handle conflict and work with different personalities, becoming a teacher came with other challenges. Linde also found support from teachers who helped him along the way.

English teacher Allison Clary complimented Linde’s challenging coursework, adding, “He’s quickly learned how to assign that right work for certain students, and he’s so brilliant that now he’s teaching AP and honors and I know that he just really works on it to keep difficult while also being manageable.”

“Ms .Clary really became a mentor for me,” said Linde. “She helped me out a lot. I went to her and I asked her questions and she really supported me and helped me.”

With Clary’s support, Linde had someone to guide him in the right direction as a new teacher.

Clary’s advice helped Linde realize that not all students learn the same way, so he’s been adapting his lessons to meet all students’ needs.

“Students learn differently. So I try to incorporate all types of learning. Some are visual. Some need to write. Some need to speak out loud. So I would say what makes me different,” he said. 

For Linde, making learning more accessible is only part of what he wants to accomplish. His main goal is to teach students how to become better thinkers.

After years of searching for a career that felt right, Linde finally found his passion, and now he hopes to leave his students with the reminder to always ask questions and think like a philosopher.

“We’re here because I want students to become critical thinkers. And that’s the goal,” said Linde.