Mr. Zhang has served as a Bergen County Academy student, athlete, coach, teacher, and advisor. As a core part of the BCA community, he recently shared information about his childhood-his life before BCA-and his his experiences at BCA-as a student and teacher-with the Academy Chronicle.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Fair Lawn, NJ. I moved to Garfield when I was 7 and I went to Number 7 Elementary School until 5^th grade. Then I moved to Fair Lawn in 5^th grade, attended middle school in Fair Lawn, and then enrolled in the Academies.

What was your favorite food as a child?

My favorite food must have been between sushi and kalbi, which is Korean barbecue.

What was it like growing up in an Asian family in New Jersey? Was it different?

Well, my parents owned an ice cream store in Ramsey, so they worked most of the time. I think growing up, I had Asian parents and an Asian upbringing. But I feel like I kind of raised myself. I was raised by MTV and other TV shows that were on after school.

Did you get unlimited ice cream?

Haha, I did. Unfortunately, it made me a bit pudgy as a kid.

As a child, did you have any particular habits?

I can think of some things that were funny.

During lunchtime, I would bring a sandwich and I loved ketchup and mayonnaise. But what I didn’t realize was that I shouldn’t put ketchup and mayonnaise in a sandwich the night before. By the time it was time to eat lunch, it was just a mess of red and white. It was really nasty. And then sometimes I would bring salad to be healthy. But I would bring a huge tub of salad and a bottle of salad dressing, and people would make fun of me for that. My lunches in high school were crazy.

Where did you go to middle school?

I went to Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Fair Lawn.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

At first I wanted to be an astronaut, until I realized I needed perfect eyesight. Then, I figured I’d be a good Asian boy and become a doctor. Then, I found out that I was deathly afraid of my own blood when I was a senior in high school–so that dream popped. Then I wanted to become a CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and then a consultant, and lastly, a teacher.

So I heard that you went to BCA as a high school student. What made you decide to apply here?

I went to a hagwon [the Korean-language word for a for-profit private institute, academy or cram school prevalent in South Korea] when I was in 8^th grade. My hagwon director showed my parents an advertisement in the newspaper for this new school in Hackensack, and suggested that we go check it out. Some of my friends and I applied, and a few of us got in. I just decided to enroll. It was kind of on a whim.

Are you glad that you came to the Academies?

I am; I think I was a pretty big nerd in high school. I definitely liked the challenge—I’m very competitive and here I was able to compete against the best. It made me who I am today, so I’m very glad.

How was BCA different when you were attending than now?

Well BCA had about 250 kids back then – 60 per class. We were tiny, and we shared a school with Bergen Tech—it was their school, and BCA was just a small portion of the math wing. We were scared of the Bergen Tech students because they were all big, strong, and muscular.

Back then no one expected to go to Harvard or Yale. We just came to school and did our thing. We also didn’t have any big tests; I think the environment was very relaxing. People would work together on projects for the most part.

Did you have a favorite teacher?

One of my favorite teachers, Richard Panicucci, is now the Assistant Superintendent of the district. He was also my lacrosse coach and history teacher. I remember he showed us the battle formations for the battle of Gettysburg, and I thought that that was the coolest thing on earth. And Mr. Galitskiy – physics. I loved his random number generator, it was so much fun.

You said you played lacrosse?

I did, it was great. At first I did it because I thought girls liked guys who play sports. All the cool kids played lacrosse. And then I found out that I was actually decent at it and it was a lot of fun.

Who were your best friends and can you describe them?

I think my best friends here were a group of Asians and Indians that loved basketball. We were all on math team, and during math camp, we would sneak out and play basketball. I am still close to many of them still today.

Who did you go to prom with?

Oh prom, I was a big nerd.  I actually invited a church friend to go prom with me. She was from River Edge.

What was your favorite high school subject?

The funny thing is, in high school my favorite subject was not Biology. I think history, chemistry, or physics were my favorites. Mr. Galitskiy taught me physics, Mr. Panicucci taught me history, and the late Dr. Ostfeld, he passed a few years ago, he taught me chemistry. Their classes were so much fun.

Did you go to a college here in the east coast?

I did. I wend MIT in Cambridge, MA. I majored in Biology.

Your three favorite subjects were not biology, but you ended up majoring in biology. How did that happen?

When I was in 10th grade, I went to this summer program called BCUA conservation camp. It was on Campgaw Mountain in Mahwah. It was for one week and they encouraged us not to shower. We learned about garbage and sewage in Bergen County. I was so interested in the sustainability aspect–that’s why I make big deal about recycling today. After that, I did a conservation leadership program at Penn State and I just loved it.

I figured I would go to MIT to study that, except I didn’t know that the biology major at MIT wasn’t related to sustainability or conservation. At that point, I was junior and couldn’t switch majors. So I just stuck it out and I’m glad that I did since it is lot of fun teaching Biology.

Did you have any jobs throughout the time you were attending school?

During high school, I worked for my parents at the ice-cream store—I’d take my SAT book and study while helping them out. At the end of my high school career, I worked at the US census.

In college, I was a grader for the physics department. In freshman year I did very well in the physics class so they asked me to grade all four years. It was the best job ever; I think I made about $100 per week.

What did you spend the money on?

I think when you’re a college student and you have money, you end up just wasting most of it. I spent the money on electronics—MP3 players, digital cameras: I thought those were coolest things on earth. And traveling. I love to travel.

Can you share one life changing college memory?

Fall semester of my junior year, I decided to travel abroad and spend three months in Oxford. I didn’t really know what to expect from it. It was just so fascinating to see their worldviews and we had some great discussions. At dinnertime, I learned how to cook for the first time in my life because the food at Oxford was terrible. And then we would just travel on the weekends. We went to places like Bruge, the leaning tower of Pisa and Florence. It was just such an enriching experience that I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s something that I recommend to every student – to make sure to see the world and allow the world to change you.

What did you do after college?

When I was applying for jobs I had two resumes: a teaching resume and business resume. I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t use the teaching resume unless I couldn’t get a business job. I landed an offer at a management consulting company that paid very well compared to the other jobs from MIT. I thought it would be foolish to not take the offer, or at least to see what is business is about. So, that’s what I did: I worked for a management consulting firm in Greenwich, Connecticut for the first two and half years after college.

How was it?

It was a lot of fun. We played sports together like softball and basketball and had a gym membership so we would go spinning during lunchtime. I traveled to places like LA, Oklahoma, Shanghai…It was a lot of fun. And then after that I worked for a company called Dun &amp Bradstreet located in Short Hills, New Jersey. Then I came to teaching.

Why did you decide to come back to BCA and teach?

When I made the career change into teaching, I couldn’t think of any other school that I’d want to teach at. Find something you’re passionate about, and you won’t have to work a day of your life. I remember my junior summer that I spent in Hong Kong was the best summer of my life because I was teaching. I loved showing students just how awesome the world is, and teaching them in ways that I thought were innovative and fun. After than experience, I’d always had teaching in the back of my mind. After working for four and a half years in business, I dreaded going to work every day. Despite the high income and all the perks of business, it just wasn’t something I could see myself doing in the long run. In 2009, there were massive layoffs in our company. I was fortunate that I lost my job as a businessperson because it gave me the opportunity to then go right into teaching, and that’s what I did.

How was the application process?

It was the fall of 2009 and for me it was actually pretty quick. I spoke to the principal, Mr. Jaye, and then the supervisors. During our conversations and the interview, I said what I believed in. I believe in our school system, the product of it, and coming back and inspiring the students here.

How were your first years teaching here, and do you have any students that you remember in particular?

There are definitely ones that you remember for the wrong reasons, but there are many that you do remember for the right reasons. I was also the class advisor at the time, and I had a student that was the class council president for three of the four years that I worked with. He was also the National Honor Society president, and we had a very close relationship. I sometimes call him my adopted son. He’s so cool.

What are your values as a teacher? Do you have anything particular that you appreciate in a student?

I do. I look for qualities that students need to succeed in the world that I used to work in– the business world, but also the intersection between business and science. When a student is able to think critically, and also think creatively, they are a pleasure to teach. That’s why I do so many projects; just being able to come to class and memorize and take exams are not great skills to have in the real world.

Do you think you will ever change jobs?

That’s a question that my wife asks me every now and then. I don’t know. I think life is a journey and you never really know what’s going to happen or people you’ll meet, or opportunities you’ll have. I really enjoy what I’m doing now, and I can see myself doing it until I retire. But, in the future, if there was an opportunity that would benefit my family and its what I’m interested in, then I think I would at least consider it. But at least for the time being, I love the classroom too much to give it up.

So who is in your family right now?

It’s my wife and my daughter.

Do you think that you’ll send your daughter to BCA?

That’s such a tough question, because for students who enjoy being here, I think this a great place for them. There are so many opportunities and it’s challenging. A lot of students like it. What I’m afraid of is that my daughter will not enjoy this place, and I don’t want to be the type of parent that says you have to come here.

What do you enjoy doing now, what are your current hobbies?

I would say I spend a lot of time thinking about the new ways that I can teach students. I’m always thinking about new projects, and what we can do to really encourage students to develop their own skills. Also, my wife and I go to church in Fort Lee. We’ve been spending a lot of time being a part of the church.

Are you involved in any other things besides teaching at BCA?

NHS, I have the Harvesters club on Wednesdays, and I also advise the Wounded Warrior Project club. NHS is a very large club. When I first took over a few years ago, I noticed that a lot of students were part of NHS, but the membership was just a badge of honor. Over the last few years, I’ve been trying to help the student leaders make NHS better. It’s still a work in progress, it’s not perfect—I know a lot of student complain about the tutoring program, and the community service projects—but I do hope that with every year we do become a bit better.

What is the one thing about BCA that you love?

It has got to be the students. I think every single year, the bright faces that come in, the dreams and aspirations they have, the funny jokes that they tell, the quirky things that they’ll say in class, it makes teaching so much fun. That’s why I’m so glad to be here.

I’m so glad to be with wonderful students.