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Last week, I had the pleasure of introducing you to Devin Schuyler, one of the new Art Education MAT students in Cohort 21. This week, I’d like to introduce Tim Zeiss, another member of Cohort 21! I’ve realized that I love doing these kinds of blog posts, because it’s always great to find out where someone has come from in life before you met them and where they want to go.

Tell me about yourself, Tim!

I grew up in Glen Ellyn, IL and always had some sort of creativity going on around me.  My grandpa made stained glass windows, and my dad is a painter and woodworker.  My brother and I were obsessed with drawing.  Art was just kind a way of life for us.  Cartooning was my favorite.

The older I got, life would veer me away from art.  In my senior year at Northern Illinois University (Biology Degree, Art Minor, and a Pre Med Certificate in Optometry), I truly owned that the direction I was headed wasn’t right.  Being an Optometrist would be a good job with good money, but I had no passion for it.  What excited me was the time off, when I could work on my art!  So, I went back to Northern for a BFA in oil painting.  In a way, this re-lit my artistic passion!  It was the first time in years I was working with total freedom.  No more being told what to draw.  It was a refreshing thing to return to… I even looked at childhood drawings for reference!

Why do you want to be a teacher, and what’s your past work experience?

After graduation, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.  Living off your work alone is practically impossible when you’re first starting out.  I’ve been lucky and sold work online and shown in 23 galleries since 2006.  It was not enough to survive.

Tim’s Survival Resume:

• Barista at Starbucks
• EMT-B on an ambulance
• Rock climbing instructor in some awesome places like Moab, Utah, and Colorado…
• Aircraft refueler at two airports
• and finally, a surgery scheduler at a hospital…

What’s the ONE thing that all these jobs had in common?  They still didn’t settle that passion! It was the same thing I felt being an Optometrist would have felt like!  I felt like a robot earning a check.  It wasn’t fulfilling in the least.

Teaching is entirely different.  It’s a job where I can actually use the skills and knowledge that I’m passionate about.  I’d leave feeling like I’ve helped someone.  If art is something a student thrives at, or something they want to learn, I’ll be ready.  I’ll respond to their individual needs and teach them fundamentals that build skills.  Art often has this magical, fantastical stigma around, making a lot of students think they can’t “do” it.  Too often, an idea or daydream is stomped short because it’s “too hard,” or feels “unrealistic.”  At K-12, even college, that pattern of thinking can take hold and, sometimes, never let go.  Sometimes, teachers who give a student that extra push to go beyond their own comfort zone can do amazing things.

Where do you see yourself teaching (e.g. in an urban environment, in Chicago or another major city, in the suburbs, another country, in a museum or theater, etc.)?

I’ve lived in Chicago for the past five years, so I picture working in a high school somewhere in the city.  That’s not to say I’d rule out the suburbs.  I’d prefer to stay in the Chicago area because of family and friends.

I see art education as constantly evolving.  Teachers need to evolve, too.  Whether they’re switching schools, experiencing different cultures, or individualizing curricula, they need to be able to mix every combination of that together instantly.  An art teacher should also practice art.  No matter what media they work with, students will be inspired.  In turn, these same teachers will get inspiration from the growing minds they work with weekly.

What made you decide to come to Columbia?

As I said, I was already thinking about teaching, but one day, on the El, I saw an ad for the MAT, applied, and got in!  It’s not a very romantic story…

A piece of advice I’d like to offer to anyone considering becoming a teacher would be…

Because of my past jobs, my advice to someone who is focused on a career would be to just try it!  You will never know if you like it until you try it.  You’ll also never know if you hate it.  If you love it, LIFE IS GOOD!