Maria Julian is teaching for her first time as an English teacher at the high school. After moving here from New Orleans, she worked for the Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT) program, so she already knows the building well. Julian enjoys spending time in coffee shops, live jazz music and spending time at a ski mountain with her family.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love to ski! My family and I belong to a co-op at a mountain called Mad River Glen, which is managed by skiers, and my family is very involved. It has kind of a 50’s vibe from when skiing was first this rickety old thing, and they’re trying to keep it that way. It’s old and homey because it’s still this little wooden ski lodge, not a huge ski mountain, but it also has really difficult slopes.

What was your first job out of college?

I learned how to roast coffee in New Orleans and I’d have to come in at six in the morning. It was so quiet. Imagine going into a coffee shop and no one’s there yet. I’d fire up the roaster, the muffin man or the croissant guy would come in and I’d have to set up the espresso machine and get it working right and I would have an hour just to myself.

What do you want your students to know?

It’s what I was telling a student today. She asked me something when we were in advisory when we were talking about something good. She said, “I don’t have anything good to say today because I failed my math test,” and I said “Well, I read somewhere that if you’re not failing then you’re not learning.” I feel the same way since this is my first year teaching. It is so hard, and every time I feel like I do something wrong, I’m kind of in that weird same position as my students, so I want them to know that we’re all going to struggle together, but it’s the only way that we will learn.