When we asked Shin Adachi, the new Calculus and Computer Science specialist at KLS, about his broad spectrum of passions and careers, and how that fueled his desire to teach, he said that he doesn’t “really know what [a passion] means. I feel like all those things kind of fell into place at the right time in my life, as a result of just pursuing growth.” In a culture where choosing a specific career goal and striving for that goal your entire life is idealized, Shin shows that the process of fulfillment isn’t a singular clear objective but rather about the journey and bettering oneself. 

Indeed, his journey has been a diverse and winding one. Shin attended California Polytechnic University, graduating with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. He worked at Google as a software engineer for a few years, before becoming a freelance musician, playing bass and piano. He then decided to transition into a career as a teacher of Computer Science and Calculus here at KLS.

Shin emigrated from Tokyo, Japan, at the age of 10. His father had been making trips back and forth to the US, and wanted his family to join him permanently in California. Shin said that easy access to McDonald’s was what finally convinced him to move, although he admits now that In-N-Out is far superior. 

While moving to a new country is undoubtedly difficult at such a young age, Shin says that he is glad that he moved when he did. He appreciates the social and cultural diversity that the United States has in comparison to Japan, which he describes as “a very homogenous country, especially back then [...] it's not the fact that we're all Japanese, it's more of the thoughts that we all have.” These cultural differences extended to his experience with the different education systems. “In Japan, I was very stressed in school because I wasn't a particularly strong student, especially in the humanities.” However, he is still grateful for his exposure to different subjects because it provided “baseline skills” he thinks are necessary for everyone, which he worries US education lacks. Shin spoke gratefully to how his American high school teachers really nurtured his interests. “My teacher wasn't so concerned that I didn't speak in English but [...] was very excited for the fact that I played music and they encouraged me to take that really far,” he said.

Music is now an integral part of Shin’s life. Part of that interest in it came from his mother, a musician. Because of her, Shin grew up with a love of music and an innate attachment to it. “You know how you get in trouble with your mother and she takes away things, like maybe a day out with your friends, or video games, but my mom actually took away [...] my ride to music lessons because she knew that that was really important to me.” Shin describes that he would often find himself walking with a cello on his back to lessons when his mother refused to drive him, a full hour and a half each way (Editor’s Note: Sophia, a cellist, finds this incredibly impressive as she can barely tow her cello fifteen minutes). When Shin’s father quit his job as an engineer to become a pastor, Shin needed a way to fund his own lessons. “[It] was actually a change for the better. I think, because I had to pay my own money for it, I had to take it seriously, right? So I think that I consider that as a turning point in my life, because it's not just about music, right?”

“Music has been a very large part of my life. I'm not exactly sure why that is. But I noticed how big it is because I spent the most time in my life on it, compared to my other interests.” Despite his deep connection with music, he didn’t enjoy pursuing it as a profession, as he felt that he had to give up his musical freedom. He finds that the best careers for him are ones that use his skills to better himself and the world. Although he enjoyed working at Google, he felt that the impact was too distant, which is partly why he turned to teaching. “Teaching is different in that I get to see the students grow right in front of my eyes and that's and that's one thing that motivates me to keep going because I can see the difference.” 

We as students are honored to have such an experienced and caring teacher. Shin is an example of how life isn’t about the end goal, but the journey and what you learn along the way.