April, 2023
By Dayana Quezada, Staff Reporter
Have you ever wondered who that perky blonde teacher was in the corner of the science hallway? Well, that’s Ms. Burke! She’s a current Collegiate teacher who teaches digital art and is a coach for one of our robotics teams. I had the chance to interview her and get to know more about the joy she brings to the KAC community.
What was it like living in New York?
Lauren Burke: “There were times when the snow was as tall as I was sitting in our front yard. There was so much of it. The temperature in New York gets below 0, like 20 degrees below 0. My family still lives there and go visit them almost every Christmas. My dogs love the snow but I, on the other hand, hate it. I can’t even walk on flat ground without tripping or falling, so adding snow and ice it’s terrible. But I also hate it because sometimes you would have to wake up early in the morning which was freezing and having to get your snow brush and brush the snow, scrape all the snow to get all the ice off the car. I have had snow cover up my car to the point where I had to boil water and pour it over my door and lock in order to get into my car. This happened to me twice. Sometimes I even had to stay in my college classes or walk because my car was stuck in the snow.”
What was your college experience?
LB: “I never lived on campus. It creeped me out to live with a stranger. I lived just off campus in apartments to the point where I could walk to college. It was way cheaper to get an apartment off campus than paying for a dorm that was on college grounds, and didn’t have to worry about noise, people invading my space, and was easier for me to study since I was an art major. It made it way easier to bring my paintings and work on them.”
How has your ADHD impacted you, and what were some ways you cope with it?
LB: “When I was in school I struggled with everything: organizing, focusing, and remembering things. Sure I had agendas in school, but did I write anything? Absolutely not! I always got in trouble for forgetting to turn in my homework… It was a lot for me. Back then schools didn’t have support for students with ADHD as they do now, so it was really hard for me. I had really bad grades and I failed a couple of classes. I thought I was a dumb kid. I wasn’t able to get into a 4-year university because of my grades, and so I ended up going to community college because we didn’t have enough money for it. Taking classes at the community college, I was able to choose them, so I was actually interested in what I was taking, and I got really good grades; and was like maybe I am not horrible at school after all, but they as well had a program in college for people with ADHD. I had way more support in college which helped and I ended up graduating with almost a 3.9 GPA the whole time, so I was like I am smart! I still struggle with it and it can be difficult. I’m honest about it, everyone is a hot mess, sometimes me more than others, but we are out here living our life. I decided to take medication for ADHD. It was like a switch and it made me feel normal. I also stay active by walking my dog and writing everything down in my planner and writing a to-do list there.
What was the craziest thing you have done at KAC?
LB: “I think the wildest thing I have done is my Halloween costumes, they are top-notch. This past year Mr. Martin and I had our team costumes and my makeup was on point so much that when I was walking down the hallway Mr. Lin was like “Great costume!” and was like “Wait, who are you?” and I was like “It’s me, Burke!” In the past when I had a homeroom we would do group costumes. I remember one year I was the cat in the hat and my homeroom students were things, like Thing 1 and Thing 2, etc. One year I was Pennywise but we weren’t able to do it, I don’t remember why. But I even ordered raincoats for all my students and red balloons. Not one of the craziest things, but I definitely terrified children this past year.”
And when asked if there was anything else she wanted to add, Burke says (and I quote), “Be weird because being normal is lame, ew.”
The Cardinal Post 