The fact that Mr. Busboom has wanted to be a teacher since seventh grade is not hard to believe, considering the passion and energy he brings to teaching every single day. He has been apart of the wolfpack family since 1995.

Busboom attended Purdue, where he was originally admitted into the school of management and business. But shortly after taking a class related to that major, his discontent settled and he realized it was time to switch.

“I was in a corporate finance class and it hit me, like, what am I doing. I don’t even like this, I like history. I know I want to teach. Why am I doing this. And I was doing it because there was a lot of people that had said to get a business degree, and I thought no, this is foolish. I need to go after the things that I really like,” said Busboom.

He ended up getting a social science degree, with an emphasis in history, government and economics.

In seventh grade Busboom was inspired to become a teacher partially due to his Dad, who was a teacher, and he wanted to emulate his lifestyle. Similarly, he also knew he wanted to be a coach like his Dad. He grew up playing soccer and basketball, and played soccer throughout high school and college.

Fast forward to today, where Busboom made his dreams come true, since he has been coaching men’s varsity soccer and teaching for over 23 years.

Due to him doubling as a coach and a teacher, he sees some students inside and outside of the classroom. But he does a good job at separating the coach and teacher roles, for example, making sure that nobody is hunting for playing time inside the classroom.

“Hopefully everybody gets to a point that they want to learn for a sake of learning and not pleasing the teacher,” said Busboom.

Despite seeing some students more often than others, Busboom excels at making connections with all of his students, whether it be big or small.

“I see all of my students the same in terms of we have a shared connection. Some of those are just bigger or more extensive and longer than others,” said Busboom.

In fact, connecting with others is one of his favorite parts of his day.

“I think it’s any part of the day when I can either put a smile on somebody’s face by creating a positive atmosphere- whether it be in the classroom or walking to the office and saying something to whoever’s working in the office or walking through the quad at break,” said Busboom.  

Inside the classroom, Busboom says his favorite part of the day is when he sees a student learn for the love of learning.

But he enjoys all hours at SRV because his job is fulfilling. Getting to teach and coach everyday fuels his passions, and he likes how there is a rhythm to his work life, yet everyday is different.

“It’s fulfilling in a lot of ways. One, it fuels my passions. Two, everyday is different from a standpoint that yeah there is a rhythm to the school schedule, but you don’t know how kids are going to react, you don’t know how kids are going to respond. Three, I get to be in my community; Work and live in my community which I have intentionally done,” said Busboom.

He enjoys overlapping his work, family and community life, and because of this has special relationships with many at San Ramon.

“My wife and I are big believers in trying to be sort of open books and transparent and members of the place that you live in, so I’ve never been a big believer in compartmentalizing my work life and I don’t think life works that way, it spills over,” said Busboom.

Mr. Busboom has proven to embody the perfect personality for a teacher. He is selfless, passionate, caring, and makes everyday in his class fun and interesting. He has a way of engaging students that other teachers should take notes on. Having him first semester, I already miss being in his first period government class. I will never forget the energy he brought that showed how much he cares about his job.

And he shows all of these traits through his daily affirmation, never forgetting to leave his students without saying “You’re beautiful, you’re wonderful, you’re outta here”. And although those are just words, over time they form into something meaningful and impactful, reminding students that somebody thinks they are capable of taking on the world.

Busboom lives his life open handedly, and does whatever he feels he is called to do. This takes selflessness.

“It’s not about us. We believe life is about serving other people, which is another thing I love about teaching; The chance that I have to serve students in some capacity or the community in some capacity,” said Busboom.

When I asked Mr. Busboom if there was anything else he wanted the readers to know, he responded by saying,

“I would just want people to know that everybody brings certain unique gifts, talents and abilities that makes this place pretty special.”

Thank you, Mr. Busboom, for being one of SRV’s finest teachers, and for living your life in a way that is an inspiration to all.