Before joining M-A as an AP World History and Ethnic Studies teacher, Marcus Kevorkyan grew up in sunny San Diego.
Kevorkyan remembers his school being fairly sizable at over 3,000 students. He appreciated his high school’s area because of the abundance of outdoor activities. “We’d go to the beach a lot. We’d go hiking,” Kevorkyan said.
During his senior year, Kevorkyan had to do a senior project on a topic of his choice as a graduation requirement. He chose to write a comedy play, titling it Internal Bliss. “It was about a character named Charlie. [Charlie] is not treated well at work, and so he goes crazy, and then his emotions, like happiness and anger, start to be represented as people, and they manifest themselves,” Kevorkyan explained.
The school produced the play, making it mandatory for English classes to watch. “We performed 30 to 40 minutes of it. The play was an hour and 45 minutes,” he said.
Directing his play came with challenges, particularly encouraging other students to attend rehearsals and remain engaged. “That part was probably the hardest. It’s like being a teacher, but you’re 18,” Kevorkyan said.
Despite the difficulties, it became a hit on campus. “I got pretty famous for that play,” Kevorkyan said.
The experience helped him overcome his fear of public speaking. “After you go in front of a couple 100 people and remember a whole play’s worth of lines and you don’t screw up—at least not a lot—that public speaking fear was more or less gone,” Kevorkyan said.
In addition to writing his own play, Kevorkyan also performed in a school production of Twelfth Night. “I was cast as the fool,” he said. “I learned pretty early on that I wasn’t acting. I was just reading the lines. They had chosen me because I fit the role. It’s called typecasting.”
The fool is clever and enjoys poking fun at others. “That definitely fits me,” he said.
Kevorkyan did not originally plan on becoming a teacher. “I thought I wanted to be in business when I was in high school, ” he said.
While attending UCLA, he ended up changing his mind. “I decided that I would stay in education and become a professor,” he explained.
After graduating in 2012, he went to China to become a history teacher, since he wanted to live abroad. “I was a history teacher [in China] because I needed a job, and decided I liked that, and came back and continued being a high school teacher,” Kevorkyan said.
He lived in southern China, in Guangzhou, a city right next to Hong Kong. “I’d never lived in the city before, and it’s a huge city,” Kevorkyan added.
“[China is] where I learned that I wanted to be a teacher because I originally wanted to get my PhD and go into academia,” Kevorkyan said. China was a good place to start his teaching career, as he taught at a private school that had smaller classes. “I had a little experience, because I was a TA in college, so I actually taught some sections.” He later returned to the Bay Area in February 2016.
Reflecting on differences between teenagers now and himself in his high school years, Kevorkyan has noticed a significant increase in anxiety and intensity. “Just chill out. Teenagers tend to be more intense about it […] But you are in control of it and can [control it] at times,” he said.
“You guys would be much happier by just dialing down a little bit,” Kevorkyan said.
