Many know him as the DPEA CAD teacher. Others know him as a track coach. Some even know him as “the duck man.” Paul Cuthbert has collected many titles in his 5-ish years of teaching at DP. However, he is ready to move on to new ventures in his life.

Below is the interview between Mr. Cuthbert and senior Sydney Hudlow.

Sydney:
Are the rumors of your departure true? And for anyone who doesn’t know, can you say what the rumor is?

Mr. Cuthbert:
Yes, yeah. Rumors, they’re true… The rumor is that I’m leaving at the end of the school year from Dos Pueblos High School, and not returning.

Sydney:
Alright, so would you like to share why you are leaving?

Mr. Cuthbert:
Yeah, I think there are many reasons why. I think that at the simplest level, I just noticed I was ready for something else. I would say around this time last year, I just got that inkling in my head, just letting me know that, “Hey, there’s other things out there. And you’re excited about a lot of different things that aren’t just teaching.”

I would say I still love teaching. But I just got that in my head and in my heart that I needed to be exploring and thinking about other options. And so over the summer, I got some time to think about it in more depth and talk to my partner about it. And we made this plan to buy a trailer and travel around the United States, for a year, maybe two, we’re not really sure.

And that sounded really exciting to me and just got my heart and my mind all excited about this new adventure that I could be having. So that kind of became more and more of a real thing. And I bought a trailer. I was like, okay, this is actually happening. So, yeah, I think, just for simplicity, it’s just I felt ready for a new adventure in life.

Sydney:
That is very exciting. So that kind of answers the question of, “what are you going to pursue?” If not, do you want to elaborate more with the trailer?

Mr. Cuthbert:
So in the immediate future as soon as school gets out, me and my partner, Sarah, are gonna hop in our trailer, drive to Colorado. We have a bunch of friends and family there and kind of set up a temporary, like, month-long Home Base where we’re going to just make sure our trailer and our lives are in order before setting off on a longer adventure. We’ll be just traveling around the United States, mostly, maybe a little bit of Canada, maybe a little bit of Mexico. But with just the general plan of seeing and experiencing parks and cities and towns and just all these places that we think sound interesting, or that people say sounds interesting that we haven’t really given ourselves a full chance to explore.

So spending not just, like, a day or two at these places, but spending a week or two at these places, spending three weeks at these places if we really liked them, and just giving ourselves time and space to fully experience these places that are all within driving distance. America is super drivable. And I think that’s one of its advantages. And so we’re both really excited to explore that in more depth.

Sydney:
You kind of touched on it a bit, but how did you know it was time to leave?

Mr. Cuthbert:
I think… it was just a kind of a feeling, but more so than that.

I’ve been here for- this is my fifth year. Now my fourth as, like, an official teacher because I did one year of student teaching. And so even, the timing just feels right in that, like, I’ve done my four years of high school, it feels like I’m graduating now, I was a freshman, a sophomore, junior, senior with you and your class.* And so kind of in a sentimental way, it just feels like I should be graduating too. And moving on to what’s next.

And I think if I went back, like, pre-college days to when I was a teenager and I was thinking through my life plan, I never had this idea of being one thing for my whole life. Like, even now, I’m excited about so many different things that I don’t want to just be tied to one thing or one idea or one place; Because there’s so much to experience. And I find a lot of joy in that.

So in feeling that, my life was starting to kind of slow down in kind of a stagnant way. And I wasn’t feeling super challenged anymore, I knew it was time to break out of that. And so a big part of this is me, stepping into something that I know is gonna be a little bit uncomfortable, and a little bit unknown to anything I’ve done before.

But I know that’ll force me to grow a lot into whatever the next phase of my life is. It’s really great. And similar to what kind of advice would you give to other people who are kind of in a similar spot or position as you is that, yes, since I would say, I always felt a little self conscious about not really having a game plan for my life. And, like, even when I went to college, I didn’t really have a plan, I didn’t really have a major. I didn’t really apply to a bunch of colleges, I was like, okay, whatever happens, happens- it’s gonna be fine. But I was surrounded by friends and family who were all, like, applying to two dozen colleges and applying to hundreds of scholarships. And like, making all these written out, like, well thought out plans about what their life is going to be like over the next 5, 10, 20 years and what that projection is going to be. And I just never connected with that.

And it made me feel a little self conscious at times. And I was like, “well, am I an adult? I don’t really have a plan, can I consider myself a real adult?” And then as I continued progressing, I realized that every little experience I was having was just kind of leading me towards my own path, whether or not that was super planned out or not. I think it led me to a place that made me really happy.

And then now stepping into a new path that was kind of more unknown to me, I know that as long as I keep following that, and keeping excited about what I’m doing next, then it’s all gonna work out. And I think it’s easy to get overwhelmed and bogged down by thinking that you need to have a plan, or being overwhelmed by planning every little step.

Now, I would say just don’t worry so much about it. I think a lot of the time things work out; And even when they don’t, they’ll lead to something or some experience or some place or some people that you wouldn’t have met otherwise. That impact can change who you are.

Sydney:
That’s very nice. I think a lot of people probably relate a lot to that, especially with seniors and graduating.

Are there any favorite memories you’d like to share? Or highlights in your time here?

Mr. Cuthbert:
I would say just in general, I really appreciate students being themselves in front of me. Which I really appreciate because I think often when students are being themselves, it can often come across as disruptive or, or rude, or like silly or whatever. And yeah, I try to think about those moments. And just appreciate them for what they are.

I think a lot of students aren’t really comfortable with being themselves all the time, [because] if they are, sometimes they’ll get shut down. But some of my favorite memories are justm, like, students being silly or goofy in class and me being able to laugh along with them. Like, I don’t always remember exactly what they were doing or saying, but I remember, like, just trying to hold back laughter and not spit all over the place because it’s really funny. So those are the memories that I will remember the most.

Sydney:
I don’t know if it’s redundant, but what are you looking forward to the most?

Mr. Cuthbert:
Yeah… [What I’m] looking forward to the most is feeling uncomfortable.

I think over the past, probably two or three years, I’ve been feeling more and more comfortable in Santa Barbara, more and more comfortable with, like, my job, which I think is a really nice place to be. It’s like, “Wow, I feel comfortable with the thing I’m doing, I’m good at it. Like, I’m doing things right.”

But then, I think if you’re not doing things to make yourself uncomfortable, at least for me, I feel like I’m not growing anymore. So I think I’m really excited to push my boundaries, and just be uncomfortable, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

And see new places and be forced to meet new people and befriend new people, which can be scary and difficult; As like a lot of seniors will see as they go graduate and go to college, like, kind of a similar path is you’re gonna run into new people and you’re gonna be forced to make new friends and new friend groups and meet new teachers and have new experiences. So I think I’m excited for that learning process to happen the most. And see, like, what is my next career or job that I’m really excited about? That I think can push me to like the next level of… whatever my next level is.

Sydney:
Very profound. Not many people would say they want to be uncomfortable. What do you think you will miss the most from this teaching experience?

Mr. Cuthbert:
I would say, like, the connections are weird. The connections are very weird that you can make with people here.

Because as a teacher, you’re in this role of being, like, a superior/advisor person. But I’ve never really vibed with that, I’ve always seen myself as more of a peer and, like. someone that can help you do what you want to do as opposed to, like, tell you what you should be doing. So I think in doing that, a lot of students have connected with that idea.

I think one of my favorite things that students had was that he was like, “hey, there’s a group of students and we just love you- and if you wanted to overthrow this school, you could do it, just give us the word.” And I was like, if that explains my relationship with teaching and my students, I think that’s what I want to remember, is those deep connections. And of course, you’re not going to connect with every student, which is unfortunate, but I think that hopefully within like the grand scheme of the school and with all the activities that every student is at least connecting to one teacher or one mentor or one older student or someone in that way. So I would say maybe a regret is that I couldn’t connect with more students, but something that I’m really happy about is the amount of students that I was able to connect with, to form genuine relationships.

Sydney:
So is there anything else you would like to add overall?

Mr. Cuthbert:
Overall, high school was fun. Yeah. High school round two; I got to go to high school in New York and I got to go to high school in California. Both were great. Both were very different because one was when I was that student and the other was I was a teacher.

I want to emphasize that I’m not leaving because I hate this place. I’m not leaving because this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’m leaving just because I’m ready for my own next personal step.

My own next adventure.

Sydney:
Any book recommendations?

Mr. Cuthbert:
Always.

“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho and “The Little Prince” by… some French guy [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry].

*In reference to class of 2023.