High School Teacher and Coach Aims to Help Teenagers Meet their Goals

Shayla Benson

The philosophy of being driven by interests on your career path in opposition to a definitive goal, is exemplified in Jared Budd’s job as a teacher at Harrison Trimble High School. He accomplished this through coaching basketball and taking courses in university, which piqued his interest and led him to discover he wanted to teach them. Psychology courses became especially useful in teaching subjects in the realm of humanities.

“I enjoyed understanding why people are the way they are, and why I was the way I am”.

Now, he provides that knowledge to high school students with the same curiosities. He also coaches the Varsity Girls Basketball Team along with Kim Sinclair. 

It’s almost crucial that, for a person to be passionate about something, there will be an objective or goal that provides them a sense of accomplishment. In our younger years, and in many professions, these goals can be more centered around ourselves. Mr. Budd explained how this was true for him before he aimed to help other people.

“Obviously when I grew up, it was more so I wanted to receive that letter and I wanted to be the person who made the team. Now, it’s a lot more kind of service related.” 

As a teacher or coach, a sense of accomplishment is often reflected in the results that a student or player receives, after having guidance or lots of aided practice in order to get somewhere. Mr. Budd feels achieved seeing success for those who he’s helped along the way. 

“I ask myself how I can help somebody else reach their goals. If they get to where they’re going, then I feel like I’ve accomplished something. In the classroom, if you have a kid who’s really struggling with a concept or a course, and you put it some work, you see them turn the corner and be like, ‘I can do this’ or, ‘I get this now’. That’s when I feel accomplished”. 

As a coach, Mr. Budd recalls a moment he felt he fulfilled his purpose.

“I had a player who wanted to play in university. So, we spent a lot of mornings coming in, working on things. When she made that team and sent that message to say thank you, that was a pretty big accomplishment for me.” 

For teenagers, there can be pressure to avoid “going with the flow” when others around them have set plans to achieve a career they aspire to end up in. Many anticipate open house emails and acceptance letters, while others struggle to pick a school or a field of study. Focus on academics may stray students away from their social life and the rather enjoyable aspects of high school. 

As a student, Mr. Budd found himself looking forward to attending school. He shares with me in our interview,

“I liked being around people who I cared about and who cared about me”.

He was a B student; school came easy to him. He says he could have tried harder and earned higher marks, but high school for Mr. Budd was more social than anything else. He spent time making friends doing what he enjoyed most, playing basketball. Through the sport he also developed a strong relationship with one of his coaches as well as teachers, Riverview High School’s Dave Allison. He elaborated on the fact that he maintains contact with this person from his earlier life, and that it feels beneficial for him to do this. 

“It’s good to know people who knew you before you kind of became you, because they can remind you of what you were like and in some ways humble you and remind you of how far you’ve come. It’s good to have those kinds of people in your life”.

We discussed the limitations along with expectations that come with employment in New Brunswick. Many jobs in the province require or highly prefer bilingualism as a skill for communicating with English and French speaking customers/clients. Mr. Budd is able to speak and understand French to a degree which he doesn’t believe makes him capable enough to use it in teaching. Fortunately, there are several opportunities in teaching which exclude this expectation. 

Mr. Budd teaches courses Individual and Family Dynamics 120, Goals, Growth and Grit 120, and Canadian Geography 120.