Faculty Unscripted: Michelle Gottschlich
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Michelle Gottschlich teaches English.
What are your primary roles at MSA?
I teach 9th Grade English and co-teach 8th Grade Humanities with Mr. Troyer.
What made you decide to live and work on the Hill?
The Minds, Hands, Hearts mission
Most memorable teaching, coaching, or student-life experience?
I’m new so I’m still racking those up! But if I had to choose one – probably watching a few of my 9th Grade English students reenact a dramatic father-son wrestling match from a short story on the Chapel stage.
If you were not an educator, what would you be?
One summer I worked assisting the winemaker at a winery. I would do that again; it was really messy and fun work, and I got to use a power-washer a lot. I’d also love to run a community writers workshop and publication one day. So maybe both at the same time!
Favorite aspect of working at a boarding school?
Never having to cook breakfast or pack a lunch or do dishes after is wonderful. Our kitchen here is the best.
Most memorable lesson learned from students at MSA?
This isn’t necessarily a lesson, but I’m remembering more and more every day what it was like to be their age. It’s a trip to see so concretely how much is different now, but also how much is still the same. I feel really lucky that they can give me such valuable perspective.
Favorite place to go or thing to do on MSA’s 1,600-acre campus?
The lake! I haven’t swam it yet, but I really want to.
Movie you have watched the most times in your life?
10 Things I Hate About You, all in a single year when I was 16
Dream trip?
A few months to tour Europe, and a few to tour South America. That would be a good start!
Pets?
My housemate has a 18-year-old, very round, and very vocal cat named George. My boyfriend has two cats, Inca and Poppy. Inca’s an affectionate lush, and Poppy is the shy goth girl my teen soul relates to.
What did you want to do when you grew up (when you were in high school)?
I had absolutely NO IDEA. Not a clue. Looking back, it was so obvious that I wanted to be a writer and teacher. It just took a little while to figure it out.
