Mrs. Latta’s Interview

Teacher: Mrs. Latta

What college did you go to?

John Carroll University–a Jesuit school–in Cleveland, Ohio.

What did you major in?

I majored in middle childhood education (4th through 9th grade). And then I specialized in math and science.

What degrees do you have?

I got my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Seattle University.

How did you come to teach high school?

So I taught after college in Japan for 3 years, and taught English. It’s called the JET Program, which is Japan Exchange and Teaching. So I taught English in the Japanese schools and then I came back and taught at St. Mary Magdalene Middle School. And then I got my high school endorsement, a year program through the Seattle Public Schools. Right after I finished the endorsement, there was an opening at [Archbishop Murphy High School] and so I applied, and got the job!

Best memory?

I don’t know if I have a best memory, but my favorite part of college was dorm life and living with friends and people with common interests. My roommate and I became best friends, I didn’t know her–well I didn’t know anybody at the school I was completely by myself. I just got along with my roommate. We were paired up randomly and are still very close to this day. While it’s easy to room with someone you know, it’s beneficial to room with someone you don’t know.

Worst memory?

I loved college, it was probably one of my favorite times of my life – okay, I love being married and having kids [laughs] but college is just so unlike any other time period. You have very little responsibility that comes with having a job or a family. I just really loved it. There were really no bad memories, there was just the amount of studying I needed to do. I hated that. I mean the hours of studying and staying up late. I was a member of the crew team, and we practiced at 4:30 in the morning so I had to wake up at 4:15 every morning and I would go row. And then I would have class at 8, and then be up late studying…so it’s not a bad memory. But it was a hart part of college: balancing the social life and studying.

Were you part of any frats or sororities?

I was not. They don’t have Greek life at John Carroll. Some people did it, but it’s not a part of our college. I think there was a way to do that but I didn’t do it so no [laugh] I didn’t do it in college.

What is one thing that you would tell your high-school self after going through college?

I wish I would’ve taken high school more seriously, because I found high school fairly easy. It didn’t feel meaningful. Like I was looking ahead, I knew I wanted to take classes that pertained to being a teacher. So I felt that high school didn’t pertain to that, when in the end it does. Like writing is very important, and I don’t think I focused enough on that in high school. And so my first paper in college it was just like oh my gosh! Because college is really reading and writing, that’s how I felt. I was like “oh” because it wasn’t like what I thought it would be. While the classes were for my major, there were still the things from high school like how to read a text – from Mrs. Mullen, for example [laugh], you know – how to write a paper, just how to interact with my peers – how to work well with other people. So probably to take it more seriously. Learn how to write a paper, that’ll be my advice!

What advice do you have for the graduating class of 2018?

I think, take advantage of every opportunity, and just live so that you don’t have any regrets. And, you can study abroad in college!

So did you go to Japan in college?

I did so I taught in Japan after college but I did a semester in college. So, it was 10 credits of Japanese – which I didn’t need, for my major [laugh]. A normal credit load in college was 15-18 credits I think, and 10 was Japanese. I took an art class which was 3 credits, and that counted towards my major. I basically took a semester off of school which was really hard. But I took summer school, and then I could still graduated in four years. So it all worked out!