Paola Lozano-Sanchez is an English teacher who sponsors the anime club after school on Tuesdays from 4:35 to 5:45 p.m.

The Eagle’s Eye sat down for an interview with Lozano to let the school community know more about her.

The Eagle’s Eye: Did you always want to be a teacher and why?

Paola Lozano: That is such a good question. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was like eight years old. However, I always really respected teachers because my tias in Mexico are teachers, my great tias like my grandma’s siblings. So teaching to me was always something that I thought was beautiful. And it wasn’t until I was like, eight, so like, third grade, that I was like, this is what I want to do. So I think I have wanted to be a teacher for probably most of my life, and more than most teachers.

EE: How was your first year at this school and how did you feel?

PL: My first year was a little untraditional because I started in the middle of the year. I student taught in the spring, and then I got hired on in the fall so I was able to stay. My first year was challenging just because it was kind of like you didn’t know too much about classroom management. However, I still loved it, and I still think it was probably one of my more exciting years.

EE: Why do you have an anime club?

PL: Oh, I have an anime club because I enjoy anime. And I think there’s a lot of misconceptions from people outside of the community that think that anime is weird, or just for nerds, or you know, there’s a lot of like, negative comments. So I want to be able to create a space where anyone can come and just be themselves and enjoy and feel no judgment, and, yeah, just to have fun, really, because the kids deserve that.

EE: What do you do outside of school?

PL: Outside of school, I watch anime. No, I’m on a couple of soccer teams, so I play a lot of soccer. I hang out with my boyfriend, my family, like my siblings and my parents, who live in Austin. So I mostly just play soccer and chill at home and see family.

EE: Where did you grow up?

PL: Austin, born and raised AISD, my whole life. I also lived in San Marcos when I went to Texas State, but because of COVID, I moved back pretty quickly. So I only lived in San Marcos for like two and a half years, three years at most.

EE: What advice would you give your past self on the first day of teaching?

PL: Oh, that’s a good question. I think the advice that I would give myself if I could go back to my first day of teaching, would probably be, that’s a good one. It would probably be to advocate for what you need and to be a little more confident. Because I think at the time, I was nervous about keeping the job, when, in reality, I should have been like, no, they need me. You know.

EE: Did you always want to teach English?

PL: No, I started with wanting to teach in the special education department, because I’m really passionate about students with disabilities having equal education. That was something that was always so important to me. So I started with wanting to be a sped teacher, specifically in scores, so working with students with autism, and then, and also I was a little like middle school, and then it kind of shifted. I wanted to work with students who are emergent bilinguals, students who shared a similar story to me, because I knew Spanish before English. But it wasn’t until, like, high school that I realized that English was actually a really big strength of mine, and I wanted to share kind of, like, the misconceptions that a lot of people have about English, like thinking that you have to sound super smart when at the end of the day, like all communication is valid. So I really liked English, as far as, like the language and being able to empower students with, like, reading and writing.

EE: What food do you like and why?

PL: Oh, that’s a good one. I really like this. Just off the top of my head, I really like this breakfast that my dad makes. It’s called sincronizadas, which is like a breakfast, a Mexican breakfast, which is almost like Enrico Ladas, but with chorizo. So it’s like tortilla, ham, beans, cheese, and then on top, it’s like queso fresco and crema. It is so freaking good.

EE: Where were you and your parents from?

PL: Oh, yeah, I’m from here. Love. I was born and raised in Austin, but my mom is from Caracas, Venezuela, Venezuela, which is like the tip of South America. My dad is from Toluca, Mexico, which is close to Mexico City, but they both moved here and met at St Edward’s.

EE: What’s the greatest part of teaching?

PL: Oh, my God, the greatest part of teaching is the students. There’s no other answer besides that.

EE: What are your top three anime and why?

PL: Oh, I’m like, you’re putting on the spot. No, I’m just kidding. I really like this anime called, well, Death Note is my number one, just because I like the darkness of it. I really like that kind of like, it wasn’t older at the time, but now that older style of anime where it’s still like hand-drawn, and each scene is so good. After Death Note, it would probably be, my God. We’ll do Rah rah’s Really good? It’s so good. It’s about like, it has a little bit of the mix of like, mystic and realism. So it’s like, about living in the big city, Tokyo, but then, kind of, like the traditional Japanese, what would I say? Like monsters that exist in their culture and like bringing it into the city. So I like that one and I also like one punch, man. Those are good things. Super good.

EE: What’s your motivation?

PL: I guess. What motivates me? Just in general, man, certainly not money. I think my students motivate me. That’s my truth, yeah.

EE: What’s your favorite thing about your students?

PL: They’re fun. They’re sweet, they’re little angels. They’re learning and growing. They make mistakes, but they’re still working on it. They’re just, they’re just good little humans.

EE: Who is someone you look up to?

PL: Oh, that’s such a good question. I really look up to my parents and my Tias, the ones that kind of taught me how to teach really. But as far as like education, I look up to teachers that have been in the field for a long time, so people like Zamarron or Delmore. Teachers on campus that have just been here for like 15 plus years, because that is true dedication, and those are people that really have lived like a life of service.

EE: Is there anything you wish people would know about you?

PL: I think the biggest thing that I want my students to know because I really care, mostly what the students think, is that regardless of the mistakes you make, there are still so many opportunities. I always get emotional. There are so many opportunities to change and just become the person you want to be.