Throwback Thursday-Teacher Edition: Darrell Thorley

In this week’s edition of Throwback Thursday, you can get a glimpse of Darrell Thorley’s adolescent years before he came the great math teacher he is today.

What school activities were you involved in in high school?
I was involved in cross country, soccer, and baseball. I was the captain of all three. I was a student council representative and I was in the school newspaper as a page editor.

What type of student were you in high school?
I was very studious for freshman and sophomore year; I was a straight A student. But as I grew older I became a “big socializer” and became less studious. I then got A’s, B’s and the occasional C and D.(They still had D’s back then.)

What clique were you in?
Freshman and sophomore year I was a “nerd geek”. But as I got involved in sports I became a “nerdgeek/athlete combo”. As an upperclassman I was a jock- I was one of the cool kids.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
Well, in high school it was interest of mine to be a stunt man. I would fake fall down this big stairwell like a stunt man. Everyone thought it was funny because they thought I was really falling.(My friends thought it was even funnier because they knew I wasn’t.) Only in hindsight do I realize this is an embarrassing moment.

Have you won any contests?(This was Mr. Thorley’s question he wanted to ask himself)
Yes, actually I have. I won the whole contest of Master Alamo City as an eighteen month old baby.

What kind of music did you listen to?
Oh, Rock n Roll. I listened to The Rolling Stones, The Who, Michael Jackson, The Eagles, The Cars, ACDC, and a little bit of Devo(a punk rock band).

Did you cheat when you were in high school and college?
I wasn’t a big cheater. But I’m sure there were times when I did it.

What is a memorable moment of your high school/college career?
It was in the 80’s when the space shuttle exploded. I was in college and I couldn’t believe it. There had been no deaths in the space program to date. I was in my condo watching the TV being so sad and shocked that it happened.

What was your mindset/motto in high school?
“The only person that could help me be successful in the future was the younger, current me.” -Darrell Thorley. I realized that good grades and success in high school was paramount to having success in the future.

Where did you go to college and why?
Baylor. I picked Baylor because it was close to home, it was a well respected school, and it had a great baseball program. The baseball team had just gotten out of the World Series. I played baseball as a walk-on player. However, I was mostly a bench-warmer and also a player coach on the team. I lettered for baseball for three years. Baseball was my dream, but being a math teacher was my goal.

Why did you want to be a math teacher?
I wanted to try to become a professional baseball player, but my fallback was a math teacher. That was my plan. I was inspired by my math teacher and soccer coach, Mr. Burke. He was a very positive influence on me and inspired me not only to teach kids, but to mentor them as well. By the way, he was Canadian.