Hillsdale Made Me a Teacher (And Brought Me Back)

Written by Nolan Ryan

When I was a freshman at Hillsdale, my dad casually mentioned that I might consider teaching as a career. I dismissed that vocation as one I would never consider. Now, after having taught for five years, I find myself pursuing a master of arts in classical education, in large part due to my experiences at Hillsdale.

Our college is full of professors who regularly embody excellent teaching. Whether in my English major and journalism minor courses, or even outside my fields of study in chemistry, my professors inspired me to love learning and to develop as a thinker and a writer. As a freshman in Great Books with Dr. Dwight Lindley, I saw how a teacher might draw students into a narrative or a poem. Later, in Mathematics and Deductive Reasoning, Dr. Jonathan Gregg demonstrated teaching practices that can ignite the imagination of students. After realizing more fully the beauty and the serious responsibility inherent in teaching, I decided to take electives in the Education Department. Courses like Classic Children’s Literature, Classical Quadrivium, and the liberal arts teaching apprenticeship deepened my desire to be in the classroom.

What I gradually came to realize was that the truths I learned and the teaching offered to me were at the heart of my own education as a child. Growing up, my parents had classically homeschooled my siblings and me. We grew up hearing tales from Tolkien and Homer and, above all, the great stories of Scripture. Reflecting on these gifts from my childhood and young adulthood showed me what a gift I had received at home and at Hillsdale. Perhaps teaching could be a way not only to stay close to the stories and truths I loved but also to give back some of what I had received.

But then all of these musings became more urgent. In the middle of my senior year, the COVID-19 pandemic began while I was on spring break with my family. Suddenly, I was faced with the prospect of finding a job in the middle of lockdowns and heightened uncertainty. 

By this point, I had made connections at Hillsdale’s Classical School Job Fair and, providentially, had already visited potential employers, including a classical charter school in Texas. God used the lockdowns to finally sell me on teaching. I took the risk of moving across the country, despite having no family in Texas. It was likely one of the most crucial decisions I would make.

Over the course of my time teaching fifth-grade humanities, many teachers helped me grow as an educator and as a thinker. Veterans of the classroom helped point out ways I might be more effective in my instruction, but also more attentive to my students. After teaching in Texas for five years and dipping my toes into school administration, I began to feel that an even deeper acquaintance with classical education was called for. I wanted to explore the kind of education I had received—and had tried to give students—in all its history, its philosophy, and its pedagogy.

By this point, Hillsdale had opened the Diana Davis Spencer Graduate School of Education. Pursuing a master’s degree had been on my radar, but I had not given it serious thought until reconnecting with professors and alumni friends who encouraged me to apply. 

My first year in the graduate program has confirmed my choice to return to campus. Being a member of a tight-knit cohort of students is a joy and a blessing. Classmates take the same classes with the same people; we get to know how one another thinks and what prior experiences shape the way we engage in classical education; we build a small but strong community of like-minded friends who share many of the same interests.

In addition to the peers, the faculty have shaped the program into something excellent. The professors routinely challenge us to dig into philosophy and understand its educational implications. They lead us to love what is true, good, and beautiful as seen in the works we read. They show us the narrative of educational history so we know our place in the story. In short, the professors make efforts on our behalf so that we might grow in virtue and wisdom and, hopefully, pass on these blessings to our students.

As I reflect on how Hillsdale formed me as an undergrad and brought me back as a grad student, I come to an unsurprising conclusion. We often quip on campus that “it’s the people.” But this oft-quoted motto is more profound than meets the eye. The people who have taught with me and studied with me, in Hillsdale and in Texas, helped to form me into the kind of teacher and person I have become. And I expect they will continue to do so.

Nolan Ryan, ’27, M.A., is a 2020 alum and a graduate student studying classical education. He taught English and history at a classical school in Texas for five years before moving back to Michigan. Usually, you can find him reading C.S. Lewis or Augustine at Rough Draft and sipping on a bourbon vanilla latte.

Published in March 2026