Pat Troy is a student teacher at Dos Pueblos High School, who enjoys reading fantasy and sci-fi books (especially those of Ursula K. Le Guin), and playing video games as well as Dungeons & Dragons. They also enjoy spending time with their friends and spouse. They are currently teaching English 11 as well as co-teaching Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) 11.
Troy said that they feel passionate about making a difference through teaching, especially through English.
“It helps students think for themselves and get in touch with their beliefs and their values,” Troy said. “I think it’s a really valuable way to decide what’s important to you and how to express it.”
Troy also enjoys teaching drama and acting. They graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with an undergraduate Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting, where they also studied singing and dancing. They feel passionate about music, saying that they “need music in my life to make sense of myself in the world.”
“Singing is a great way to express yourself in a very immediate … way,” Troy said. “I think it’s very powerful. The key thing is being able to emotionally connect to other people.”
As the first staff member at DPHS to use the honorific “Mx.,” Troy says that it was “one of the things that made [them] the most nervous” going into teaching. However, Troy said they haven’t faced many challenges with their honorific or pronouns since.
“People always treated me very kindly, and when they do mess up on my pronouns, because obviously people do that all the time, they’re quite nice about it,” Troy said. “It feels very good to just feel like I can be myself.”
When deciding on their career path, Troy considered how they value connections, wanting to leave “a lasting impression on the world in a positive way.”
After having positive experiences with teachers and professors who helped them find a sense of belonging and direction, Troy said they want to leave a similar impact on their students.
“I realized how I had an impact on students’ self-image, and I want to be part of students’ understanding that somebody is listening to them and that they have things to say that are important,” Troy said. “I want students to believe in themselves.”
Troy intends to pursue teaching theatre arts alongside English. They hope to stay in Santa Barbara and continue working at DPHS.
“I just believe that Dos Pueblos is a special place, and I’m very happy to be given the opportunity to spend … time with the students who go here,” Troy said.
