Unlike most, who find themselves downcast when the drizzly weather sets in, one man finds that the chilly weather produces more enjoyable emotions.
“I love the drizzly weather,” Michael Fuller, dean of men, said, “I used to live in Oregon, so I think this type of weather is perfect. If I could vacation anywhere it would be in the British Isles for a month because of the weather and the history.”
Fuller, age 35, is one of the new teachers to come to this campus this year. He became the dean of men this year. In addition to being the dean, he teaches English and coaches football. He says this year has been very different from his past experiences.
“This is the first year I’ve taught less than three subjects at once,” Fuller said. “This is also the first year I’ve been in a semi-administrative position. It gives me a chance to see some people I wouldn’t normally see.”
Fuller is the replacement for Greg Page, who left to work as the principal at a small Christian school. With little time to find a replacement, Jon Endicott, vice principle, credits God with making things fall into place.
Students have welcomed Fuller to the campus and seem to enjoy the variety he brings to the classroom.
“Mr. Fuller is fun to have as a teacher,” Melanie Nachtigall, ’08, said. “He makes a lot of jokes about our generation. It’s amusing.”
Fuller never considered being a teacher and even graduated from UC Santa Barbara still not knowing what he was going to do.
“The fun story is that I was getting married and needed a job,” Fuller said. “The real story is that I never planned on being a teacher, but after awhile I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”
Before coming to this campus, Fuller taught at two other schools: Santiam Christian High School in Corvallis, Oregon and Vacaville Christian High School in Sacramento.
“All of them are about the same size,” Fuller said. “Compared to Vacaville, the students here are more mature and less silly and rowdy, but are more self absorbed. The faculty here is the one of the most excellent, encouraging, and supportive that I’ve had and the parents are a great support base for development.”
Fuller has been married almost ten years to his wife, Chris. They have two kids, Charles, who is three-and-a-half, and Lillian, who is two-and-a-half, both of whom are adopted.
“There are so many children out there who need homes and both of them are evidence of God’s gifts to us,” Fuller said. “One of the hardest things I went through is when our son was taken away from us to go back to some relatives, but luckily he came back about six months later.”
Fuller will eat any kind of pizza and he loves reading books such as The Dune series, by Frank Herbert, and The Lord of the Rings series, by J.R.R. Tolkien. One of the movies he can remember seeing was the original Star Wars in a drive-in movie theater.
One last fun fact: Fuller pierced his left ear in college and the hole is still there, but he does not wear an earring anymore.
For more information on Fuller, contact the school office at 299-1695, ext. 5.
