Bringing Spirit to school

By Yessenia Rivas

When you think of a teacher who has passion for what they do, who do you think of? I think of Viet Trinh, an activity director here at Yerba Buena High School.

But his own journey into becoming a teacher actually started because of another teacher's passion for students.

Trinh remembers being in high school and having an English teacher named Marylin. She was the one who inspired him and says how much passion, enthusiasm, and love she had for all the students.

Trinh:I knew fairly early on , I kind of knew in high school. It was something that I saw my teachers have a passion for and I wanted to be able to do something that I also had passion for. There were a few teachers but a teacher that stood out for me was a teacher my english teacher her name was Marilyn. I loved her passion, I loved her enthusiasm, she had a love for us as students that I found to be contagious and she really was the one who sparked my interest in becoming a teacher.

Trinh started teaching in 1997 at Andrew Hill High School as an ELD teacher. After 3 years of teaching he got offered a position as an activity director and decided to take it. 

Eventually life changed for Trinh when he had kids of his own. Because being an activity director requires a lot of extra time for events, it was taking a lot of time away from his family and kids who were currently just 6 years old, so he decided to come back as an English teacher.

In 2010 a position opened here at YB as an activity director and leadership teacher. Over the years Trinh has built amazing relationships with his students and makes sure every student is seen, heard, and understood. 

While being a teacher is what he loves doing, it's not that easy. Modeling leadership can be hard every day, especially while also being human. They're expected to be perfect role models all the time, but they have to deal with regular stress.

Trinh: I think the hardest part about modeling leadership everyday is that you tend to cave into human instincts like when you get frustrated and you get angry and you get stressed, i think the hardest part of managing and controlling it and so if you continue because those basic human instincts tend to be really strong and you end up maybe saying something that you regret or you do something that isn't what is expected of a leader.

As I was interviewing Trinh, I noticed how busy he was, most of the time it was going around checking up on his students, he would make sure everybody had what they needed. This made me realize how important his students are for Trinh. 

I had an Introduction to leadership class with him my freshman year.Trinh was one of those teachers that marked your life, and either in a good way or bad but for me was in a good way. 

I have a few memories about that class, one of them was how he would always encourage us to be leaders, for example when I was really into making slime and I talked to him about it, he encouraged me to make it as an activity in class, I was a really shy kid back then so I didn't do it. But in that moment he was the only teacher that encouraged me to be better for myself. 

Trinh hopes for his students to find happiness in whatever they do, be productive citizens and most importantly that whatever they do that they find satisfying and fruitful in their own life.

Trinh:I think it's the same thing I would want for my own children, which is  that they find happiness in whatever they do, and that they are productive citizens, that they are people who, not necessarily have, like a vast impact on their immediate environment . you know, raising kids that are productive and that are a meaningful part of society,  having a job that not only just monetarily paying them well but also something that is satisfying and fruitful in their own life. And that they invest in their community.

Just as Ms. Marylin’s deep passion for teaching transformed Mr. Trinh’s life, he has now brought that same heartfelt dedication to YB, changing lives and helping others find their passion too.