Spring '04 Alumni Profile

Facing a layoff after 28 years in journalism, Paul E. Schindler, Jr. '03 wondered whether his longtime field was still right for him. After much soul-searching, Schindler opted to abandon the publishing world to pursue his decades-old dream of teaching. The next step - choosing the right credential program - was easy: Chapman University College. Thanks to the streamlined schedule at Chapman's Concord, Calif. campus, Schindler was able to earn his credential in just 16 months and now teaches U.S. history at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School in Moraga, Calif.

"My goal was to become a credentialed teacher as quickly as possible and Chapman allowed me to reach that goal," the Bay Area resident says. "They helped me with my paperwork, offered me excellent counseling and gave me the chance to take courses from top-notch teachers."

Chapman wasn't Schindler's only option; it was his first choice. "I could have attended Cal State Hayward for less money or St. Mary's College of California, which is much closer," he says. "But neither of those programs offered the flexibility of year-round scheduling."

Since finishing the program in August 2003, Schindler has embraced a whole new schedule. On campus by 7:15 a.m., his school days include six classes and a 44-minute preparation period. Each night Schindler grades papers or devises lesson plans for an hour or two.

Before entering the program, Schindler spent his days immersed in the world of magazines, newspapers, wire services and the publishing industry. His journalism career began nearly three decades ago with stints at the Associated Press and United Press International. He then returned to his hometown of Portland, Ore. to work as a reporter at the Oregon Journal. For the next 20 years, Schindler wrote and edited stories for computer publications owned by CMP Media, a Manhasset, New York-based company.

Transitioning from career journalist to teaching guru hasn't been easy, but the classroom management tactics he learned at Chapman have helped smooth the road. "It isn't enough to know the material; you have to know how to put it across so students want to learn it," he says.

Schindler's passion will help him become an expert educator, says Bill O'Brian, an instructor at the Concord campus. "Paul was an excellent student who had a great enthusiasm for teaching, like he was discovering a whole new and exciting way to live."

-- Rebecca Harris

I went to SOGO to buy a Go board. But there really wasn't that much selection so I ended up not buying a Go board. Instead I got a CD case, a necklace, and two toys (a raptor with a missile launcher on its back and a gorilla with a machine gun on its shoulder, some assembly required, directions in Japanese). SOGO was crazy. I might not have gone if I'd known that it was going to be so packed. Apparently this week is a big sale; everything in the store is marked down 20%. It's still not really that different from western prices, but I guess it was cheaper. The place was a zoo. Everyone and their mother and their kid was there. Going up the escalators took forever, especially to get to the higher levels where they have the toys and stationery.

...

I went to Sushi Express [then went to] buy Chinese music. We each got two or three CDs. I got ones by AYa, Yan Zi and David Tao. None of it is in a style I would have gotten in English, but I'm hoping through repeated listenings it'll grow on me more. There are a couple songs on each CD that I like, now its time for me to choose one or two for my next KTV appearance. G got an album by T-Rush a two-girl band and L got a CD by Jay Chao, a rapper. After we'd bought our music we came back to our apartment for a watching of the DVD's that came with half of the music we'd bought, apparently a fairly compulsory accessory these days for Asian music. The videos were weird, and half of the DVDs were more commentary than video, which probably would have only been mildly interesting had it been in English, and as it was all in Chinese, it was hard to watch. But all the same, we had a fun little Chinese music video party.

The guy who lives in the big compound on my walk to school, who I think I've mentioned before, is the Prime Minister of Taiwan. How's that for a good neighborhood?

...

I'd heard that Mucha Tea Park was a good place to get traditional tea. There was two paragraphs about it in the lonely planet and I tried to look it up online. From the descriptions of a "tea park" with 60 + tea growers and tea shops grouped together I expected there to be one concentrated area of tea shops where you could wander through the tea terraced hillside from tea house to tea house sampling the different varieties.

Actually what they meant by 'tea park' was a mountain to the south of Taipei where they grow tea.

The cab driver insisted on teaching L the tea ceremony since he was the only guy present, which actually seemed gender counter-intuitive to me as far as tea ceremonies go, but I guess that's how they do it.

First he dished out two spoons full of the tea from the container we'd bought (and still have plenty of here now) into the brown clay teapot. He heated the water in a metal teapot on a hot plate on the table. He poured some water into the tea and didn't let it steep very long as he was just using that tea to wash everything. We each got two cups: one tall skinny one, one normal Asian style teacup which I'm sure you can picture on your own. Everything was washed in tea: hot water and tea were being sloshed around liberally as this was going on but there were bowls and a drainage device set up to accommodate some of the spillage (but not all by any means). Then the actual serving of the tea was begun. It would be repeated as many times as we wanted more tea.

The water, once heated, was poured into the clay teapot and left for 40 seconds to one minute in the pot, which was also bathed in hot water and sitting in hot water. Then the tea would be poured into a ceramic teapot through a sieve. Then from the ceramic teapot into the tall teacups. Then the shorter, stouter tea cup would be placed on top of the taller one and flipped over (don't forget to smell the aroma of the tea captured in the taller cup before you put it back down, but be careful its hot). Voila, a cup of Taiwanese tea.

The tealeaves were good for five or six rounds and then were discarded in what looked like a cross between an ashtray and a bowl with beautiful wooden tweezers. It wasn't at all what I imagined a tea park would be. Perhaps it would be nice to go back sometime with someone who has a car so we could do a little more exploring and visit multiple teahouses. But it was still an enjoyable experience, and the only real tea ceremony of which I have been a part.