October 13, 2026

High School English Teacher, Ad Sales, The Power of Jealousy

This week I spoke with Ande Edmunds, 2022 UVA grad who’s now a 9th Grade English Assistant Teacher at The Churchill School and Center.

The Rundown:

  • Ad sales at Warner Bros, rejection from publishing, teaching English

  • You’d be better practicing improv than reading the ocean

  • What are you excited to be asked about?

  • Fake it till you make it

  • Notice those whose job you’re jealous of

Below are Ande’s words, edited for clarity:

COLD OPEN

How I Got My Start

Being a teacher was my “What do you want to be when you grow up” answer, always. It’s the first thing I ever felt passionate about doing. It just took trying some other fields out to finally get there.

Starting from the beginning – my mom (who also went to UVA) was a teacher, and I remember watching her having fun doing her job. Her, and all the other teachers I adored were so inspiring to me.

At UVA though, I started my journey in wanting to be in the media and publishing industry. Being a teacher took a bit of a backseat.

I took a job at Warner Brothers Discovery in ad sales following my graduation, which honestly, I took because it allowed me to move to New York.

“Let's see how this is. Maybe it’ll allow me to move into something more creative,” I thought.

During my time there, I spent a lot of time on the side relentlessly networking and interviewing for jobs in the book publishing industry – Penguin Random House, different publishing houses, as well as literary departments at agencies. I had a few final rounds that didn’t work out, but randomly, two of the people who interviewed me were UVA alumni.

After three years of that and lots of rejections, I finally listened to the voice in the back of my mind telling me to be a teacher. I remember each September the school year would go by and it felt like I missed the boat.

Part of the decision to pivot was inspired by a poetry professor I had at UVA, Mark Edmundson. He wrote this article, called “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?”. I don’t remember how I came across it, but I read it a few months into my job at Warner Brothers. The article defends the idea of studying what interests you and finding work that feels like play. It really inspired me.

In spring 2025 I applied for a bunch of teaching jobs. Suddenly I was a lot more confident in my interviewing skills – I felt I’d be good at the job.

I landed a role as a high school Spanish teacher at the school I work at now – my Spanish minor from UVA came in handy. While I wanted to be an assistant English teacher, this was all they had open at the time.

A year later, the assistant English teacher opportunity opened up, and I took it. I currently teach ninth graders and am pursuing a Masters at Hunter College for English education.

INDUSTRY INSIDER

What People Misunderstand About Teaching High School

Sometimes I think, “Oh man, if people knew how fun teaching was, everyone would do it.” I almost feel like keeping it a secret.

For what people misunderstand, I think there's a worry about having to be an expert in the topic you teach before you start. Most of the job is interpersonal skills. It’s got much more to do with knowing your students than having read every book ever.

From a student's perspective, I think they don’t always realize how much their teachers really just want to help.

STEAL THIS

Questions I Love

I often ask people “What’s your favorite book?”

I love when people ask me about teaching because I’m finally in a place where I’m excited to talk about my job. It’s an awesome feeling.

TURNING POINT

A Challenge I Faced Early On

Teaching definitely scared me a lot. I had this fear of not being good enough, that I’d somehow let my students down. I was afraid of being in charge.

Overcoming it was a lot of learning by doing. You kind of have to pretend you’re the person you want to be to get there.

The job requires a lot of improv and thinking on your feet.

As a student, I was someone who always over prepared. If I had a presentation, I was going to have every point rehearsed. Ironically, working at school felt a lot different than how I learned at school.

Teaching gave me this skill of being able to have a loose plan, so much of it is unpredictable. Now, my favorite part of the job is that it scares me.

IF I WERE YOU

My Advice For Students

Notice those whose jobs you’re jealous of.

Before I started teaching, I remember feeling jealous anytime someone told me they worked in education or were a teacher.

Jealousy can be a powerful tool in helping you take note of what you might want for yourself. Listen to the “Why am I not doing that” voice in your head.

You never know what you might get from a random class.

You might make a friend who ends up introducing you to someone that you've never met before. Someone that likes impacts where you live, where you work.

Take my Spanish minor. Seemingly of no relevance to my current role as an English teacher, but it's actually the only reason I got my foot in the door at the school I’m at now.

Taking a Media Studies class put me on the path to pursue publishing. And even though I’m not a publisher, that journey brought me to where I am.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Some Of My Favorites

Curated and edited by Founder & Editor in Chief Ryan Levy.

Get the next story every Tuesday at 10am.

Join the newsletter