February Interviews: Valentine's Edition
Matthew Cheah
February 2021
To Skip To Your Favorite Teacher's Valentine's:
Mrs. Bawaney
Mrs. Tushla
Mr. Risse
Mr. and Mrs. Viveros
Mrs. McGee
Mr. Stein
Mr. Smith
Mr. Atkins
Mrs. Blevins
Mrs. Bawaney:
The wonderful Mrs. Bawany met her husband through a blind date that did not go quite as planned. On that fateful night, her future soulmate arrived wearing a scarf, a truly terrible fashion decision that made him look “pretentious.” In the middle of their dinner, Mrs. Bawaney took a sip of his hot chocolate through the same straw, something Mr. Bawaney thought was their first kiss while she obviously did not. Safe to say, she didn’t return his calls after that night.
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Despite this first date failure, the two decided to go on a second date, a WHOLE year later. They actually hit it off and have been married for nine years.
Every year as a Valentine’s Day tradition, the Bawaney’s go out of town to have an adventure. This year, the two rented an RV and drove to the Glamis sand dunes to ride dune buggies, and afterwards, they kayaked in La Jolla. Mrs. Bawaney gifted her husband socks with pictures of her face and her cat on them.
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Mrs. Bawaney’s advice for maintaining a long relationship is to always find ways to have fun together. She also warns against dating a person who you argue with in the beginning of the relationship, since “relationships are a lot of work, but if they’re really hard right in the beginning when they should be easy, that’s a red flag.” Most importantly, always be yourself, because you shouldn’t have to do something extra to impress the one you love.
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Mrs. Tushla:
Mrs. Tushla met her husband on a blind date. When it came time to propose, Mr. Sanchez did so in perhaps the most cinematic fashion possible. Riding on the back of an Arabian horse, he presented Mrs. Tushla with a shell that he had taken from the beach they visited on their second date. In this shell was a ring, and since then, they’ve been married for 18 years. Fun fact: ASB actually announced “Mrs. Tushla is getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!!” to the entire school, something that brought them a decent amount of trouble…
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This year, the Tushlas spent the morning of Valentine’s Day at their daughter’s gymnastics practice and ate heart-shaped pancakes for brunch. That evening, they ate a home-cooked dinner and watched the movie Big starring Tom Hanks.
Mrs. Tushla emphasized how dating helps one learn more about themselves and how to compromise with others. “Love isn’t easy when you’re a teenager,” she admits, “but it’s not easy when you’re an adult either.” Even when teenagers are “going through the ups and downs,” there’s still so much to gain from dating; it helps one understand the “gives and takes of life.”
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Mr. Risse:
The jovial Mr. Risse met his wife in 2006 at a Christmas party. There was only one available seat at the table, and it just so happened to be next to the future Mrs. Risse. At the time, he actually didn’t want to sit next to her. Doing so made it look like he was making a move on her, a romantic cliché below Mr. Risse’s refined nature. Ironically, the two wound up getting married one year later, and they just celebrated their 13th anniversary.
The Risses don’t buy into the hype of Valentine’s Day, viewing it as a superficial, corporate holiday. Instead, Mr. Risse believes showing love is a day-to-day thing, “not buying a teddy bear one day a year or buying flowers when they’re three times as expensive.”
Mr. Risse’s advice for picking an ideal partner is to be patient. He believes highschoolers get into relationships too quickly, primarily basing their choices on appearance. You should also know the
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person beforehand; “people tend to look at someone and think ‘Oh, I’m going to be with them,’ which always leads to failure.” Most importantly, people shouldn’t overthink love. “Too many people are nervous that they need to spend more time with one another,” even though, in reality, it simply boils down to whether or not you enjoy that time together.
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The Viveroses:
The Viveroses met at Sonora in 2004. Carrying papers to the front office, a newly-hired Mr. Viveros first saw Mrs. Viveros as he emerged from the science wing, turning right to see a “beautiful lady walking by with a white jacket and a grey skirt.” Optimistic with a wide grin, Mrs. Viveros was oblivious to her future husband walking across from her. He took her positivity as a sign that she was a new teacher and continued moving on, not even exchanging a single word.
Working in the Spanish wing, the two easily became best friends. Mrs. Viveros actually taught her future husband “the ropes of teaching,” since he (ironically) was a new teacher. Mr. Viveros desperately longed to escape the treacherous friend zone, but his attempts to do so always received the same devastating response: “I can’t date you, you’re my best friend!” One day, with his heart bursting out his chest, he indignantly retorted: “Isn’t that who you're supposed to end up with, your best friend!?” Fortunately, she decided that he was right, and the two started dating shortly afterwards.
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Valentine’s Day doubles as an anniversary and a holiday for the Viveroses because Mr. Viveros proposed during Valentine’s Day weekend. He handed Mrs. Viveros a rose with a ring within it, but SHE DIDN’T NOTICE THE RING. It was only until he got on his knee that she knew, and ever since then, they’ve been married for 10 years.
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The Viveroses spend every Valentine’s Day with their children, since it is “difficult to celebrate on our own when we have little ones that need that love.” This year, they got hand-made gifts for each other. Their son and daughter drew them cards, while they gifted them a hand carved wooden heart. They spent the rest of the day watching Star Wars, their newest family obsession.
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The Viveroses approve of dating, since it is “a way of understanding yourself and what you really want in a partner.” They advise not to stress about finding “the one,” since it doesn’t work like that; “it just happens, life brings you together.” It takes time to discover your significant other, but it’s not until you understand yourself that you should start your search. “With maturity,” Mr. Viveros explains, “comes that settlement into what you begin to envision what it should be like.”
Most importantly, always cling onto hope. Señor Viveros puts it best: “There is always hope, but you have to be patient and remember that if one realtionship doesn't work, it's preparing you for the next one.”
February 2021