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This article originally appeared in the winter 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
Colin Goodwin teaches lower school English, and he and his wife have two kids who attend Harker. A Colorado native, Goodwin tells us that his family also includes “an annoying cat, whose name, Shizuka, means quiet but is anything but!” It doesn’t take long to figure out that Goodwin is funny, and that he – a self-described “latchkey kid” – is passionate about being a dad who is always available for his children. That passion shares space with a love of music and all things Japanese, an obsession that began when he taught English there in 1996.
What is your most treasured object and why?
My double bass. Since I was a little rug rat listening to my parents’ 45s to when I was a skate rat in high school listening to reggae, for me, it’s always been about the bass.
What is one experience you’ve had that you don’t believe anyone else has ever experienced?
Sitting in the green room of Osaka, Japan’s Blue Note jazz club, surrounded by all the pictures of famous jazz artists who had sat there before me, all the while knowing that I was there dressed as Santa Claus waiting to go on stage for my school’s Christmas party.
What are you doing when you feel most alive?
Hiking with my family in Grand Teton National Park. When I first met my wife, she had just started a job working at the lodge. We went rock climbing for our first date. To see our children enjoying the same place is a wonderful thing. Of course, my daughter is not fond of the bears.
Why do you do what you do?
When my father and I moved from Massachusetts to San Diego my freshman year of high school, I had a heavy metal haircut, clothes straight out of the movie “Breakin’” and a head full of insecurities. Teachers, skateboarding and reggae saved me. I teach to pay back all the teachers who helped me. [They were] there for me in ways that my family could not be.
What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows?
Mr. Ramsey asked me for advice on how to improve his mixed martial arts fighting.