By Brooke Kennedy, Staff Reporter
Conestoga alumnus Seth Dixon has always loved art, but didn’t know what career he wanted to pursue until he found his love for teaching and decided to put the two together. With this, Dixon is now a teacher at Conestoga, where he has taught every art class including ceramics, drawing and painting, photography, studio art and now mostly graphic design.
“I didn’t really find out I liked teaching art until freshman year of college until we had this big arts day where we planned a lesson in pairs and went down to the elementary school that was nearby and we taught our lesson,” Dixon said. “And then I realized I liked doing active teaching. But before that, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do.”
Dixon believes the staff at Conestoga reflect a big influence on him and says that connecting with teachers he has had in the past has helped him gain insight into the teaching world.
“I’m always impressed by some of the stuff (my faculty members) do and their knowledge,” Dixon said. “Mr. Starner was previously a teacher I actually had, and that was really cool when I first started to have that relationship with him. Being able to connect with some people that I’ve had experiences with when I was younger — and now I’ve sort of taken their wisdom — is always good.”
Outside of the classroom, Dixon enjoys playing a variety of video games like sports, role-playing, fighting or racing games, watching TV and movies especially the Star Wars series, reading comic books, watching anime, and playing sports — primarily basketball.
“On (the) weekends, I try to find time to play video games, go outside a little bit, see some friends and hang out with my family — I’m very close with my family,” Dixon said. “But a typical weekend is probably me trying to take a moment to relax and refresh myself as much as I can so I can come in with the energy to start the week.”
Dixon’s favorite part about teaching at Conestoga is teaching his classes because it reminds him of when he was a student and can recognize a part of himself in each of his students.
“I really enjoy teaching the classes that I teach because I remember being a student myself in these kinds of spaces, so I think it’s pretty cool,” Dixon said “I imagine everyone as a different version of me and that it all goes well.”
Brooke Kennedy can be reached at [email protected].
