Daniel Hauser

Daniel Hauser, a graduate from University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a degree in biology. Here on campus, he’s teaching Biology and Anatomy & Physiology. In his 3rd year of teaching, Wingspan sat down with Hauser to learn more about his journey so far and what he wants to achieve this year. 

Wingspan: What inspired you to pursue teaching as a profession?

Hauser: “I started out in compliance work, environmental compliance at a construction company and it had some interesting aspects but it was very repetitive and when I got involved with teaching some kids I realized that youth are engaging, unpredictable, dynamic and I just found a joy in being a mentor and so I was like, “I can do this professionally!”. While I was working at this company to get certified to become a teacher, I was already in the workforce for a couple of years after college. And then I made the transition and it was the best transition ever because now even though the work I would say is harder than what I had, the purpose and the satisfaction is a lot greater. I hadn’t thought about being a teacher until a couple of years in the workforce.”

Wingspan: Why did you decide to choose biology?

Hauser: “At UT I fell in love with the biological sciences and marine science, just everything about cells, evolution and stuff like that and it was just my passion in college and then I kind of was using it out in the real world for a little bit doing environmental law but then I just found my love and passion for biology and the world of cells.”

Wingspan: As this is your first year on the campus, do you like it so far?

Hauser: “Definitely, I liked it as Mesquite but I love it here because, first of all, my team is very supportive, even the students are very supportive. I have also already got an appreciation email.  So I feel like my students are engaged and I’m engaged and well supported by my team. So definitely five stars so far.”

Wingspan: What are your goals for the first year?

Hauser: “I really want to get good at getting organized, I’m not the most organized person. Being organized and using that organization and efficiency to be able to try new things and be okay with things not necessarily going perfectly but a lot of times in science and in the classroom mistaked happen and those are the most important things because that’s how we learn. And so I would say being organized and being okay, improvising and using mistakes to the advantage in the classroom.”

Wingspan: What were you like in high school?

Hauser: “I was a little bit of an enigma in high school, I was on the football team and I was also quite involved with theater so I was doing the one act plays and the UIL plays, improv team and stuff like that. But at the same time i was going to forney and places like that to play football games in farway districts and 2 a day in the summer. So athletic but also involved with theater. I felt like I was outgoing but what actually happened is when I was part of two spheres, I wasn’t the king of either one, just kind of not the popular theater kid nor the popular football kid. And I kinda liked it that way.”

Wingspan: How do you handle challenges or adversity with your students?

Hauser: “First of all, I need to have a good report with the student to know about the context of their situation as every student is unique and has their own situation. And so whether the adversity is academic or a home-life situation that depends on the approach. So first I have to know the student and that starts with learning their name which honestly has been a struggle lately, I have been trying to learn their names which is a lot. So incorporating both with leveraging that to help their growth in my classroom.”

Wingspan: How do you encourage students to express their creativity?

Hauser: “Well, right now we have the students doing some writing in science. With my anatomy kids they are writing a story, they get to choose any type of story they want but they have to use anatomical terminology for those stories. And then for my biology kids, I/m giving them open ended questions which don’t necessarily have a singular right answer and oftentimes they have to use their creativity and problem solving to give me the best answer. So a lot of kids like step by step solutions but in biology I try to show that the world is not cut and dry, the world is not black and white so they have to use creativity to understand those problems.”

Wingspan: What do you enjoy most about your job?

Hauser: “I enjoy the fact that it is not the same each day, which was one of my main motivators for changing careers,but also it all comes down to the kids, that’s the reason why its not the same it can be fantastic in certain ways and challenging in other ways and it keeps me on my toes but really it really comes down to loving the kids and loving the process of learning.”

Wingspan: What hobbies or interests do you have outside of school?

Hauser: “My main hobby as of now would be playing Dungeons and Dragons so I’m definitely gonna check out the tabletop club this year. And I also love playing chess. I keep track of the chess ratings and I’ll also join another club in which I think I’ll put my head into and see what’s going on. I know we have some pretty high rated players at liberty, in fact someone said that they were ranked 1900 chess rating, so you’re almost an international master and I’m excited to see the games they play. I really want to get involved in sports like sand volleyball or ultimate frisbee nowadays. Football was a thing of my youth.”

Wingspan: What is a piece of advice you would give to your students?

Hauser: “That’s gonna involve a lot of hard work, diligence, and I would say maintaining your positivity and finding out how you personally get encouraged. How your cup per se is being filled, if you’re always giving all your efforts into studying and you never maintain your balance, maintaining mental ‘homeostasis’ for example then I think you’re gonna get burned out. No matter how smart you are, you’re gonna end up falling flat. So figuring out how to balance your life is going to be most important. You’re gonna have multiple seasons of your life doing this and you need to make sure to balance everything.”