Darrin Austin

"When I was in high school, I wanted to be involved with everything, and when I came to Shawnigan in 1991, I had the same opportunity. It was great: there was lots going on all the time.

In my first year, I taught in four different classrooms – the new guy. I taught Science 10 in three different classrooms, and I had my math classes in another classroom, which was a bit of a rude awakening to teaching. But it was good – it was my first real teaching job. We were living on campus, so we were fully immersed in what was going on here, which was awesome.

My wife and I were in Junior House for three years in the mid-’90s, I was Assistant House Director in Duxbury the year it opened, and I was the Lake’s House Director for a year before going back to Duxbury to help run the House. Academically, I was the Science Coordinator for a few years, I was the Athletic Director for five or six years, and I’ve been in Risk Management since the early 2010s.

Coaching-wise, I’ve coached basketball, of course – everything from the Grade 8 boys to the senior boys, and then the junior girls and senior girls. I’ve coached tennis, cross country, fitness and conditioning, field hockey, badminton, and volleyball as well.

I think my favourite role was in Junior House, looking after the Grade 8s. Junior House was a way to get a few more bodies into the big Houses and to give the Grade 8s a more cohesive start to their Shawnigan careers. We had 16 Grade 8 boys and two seniors, and our common room was the hub of activity for all things Grade 8-boy-related. Just being able to be with that young group and watching their development over the course of a year was amazing; they really would grow up over the year. We had a young boy ourselves, and he was always excited to have a new group of big brothers arrive every September.

I just like interacting with the students, particularly through basketball. In high school, I played all the sports, but basketball was my passion. If students are interested in basketball, I want to give them the skills to be successful, and hopefully give them a passion for it as well. Being able to come out and work on their skills and so they can get better and test themselves against other players and other teams, that was the fun of sports.

Teaching the kids keeps you young. They challenge you and they keep you on your toes. You’re up there blabbing away and their eyes are wide open, and you can see that they’re really into whatever it is that’s being discussed in the class. That’s always a neat thing: “We hit the mark today; that’s good.”

There are so many opportunities for teachers at Shawnigan, like smaller classes, great resources, and endless support. Being a teacher here is great. The facilities are great. In the science and math departments, I’ve been surrounded by really talented people who give as much support as possible. There are endless opportunities for honing your craft, whatever it is. You get more freedom in the way you do things in the classroom, or in what topics you want to cover, which is really cool.

For students, the great thing about this is that you have the opportunity to do and try a lot of things. The happiest kids are the ones that are doing lots; they’re out playing and they’re hanging out with their friends. They’re trying different activities. My advice is this: Don’t sit around. Take advantage of everything. Even if you don’t like it, you still tried it. Now go try something else, because there’s so much to do here. For staff, you have to find what you’re passionate about. If you’re passionate about something, the School is going to support you. Keep working at it, because you’re going to get something out of it.

What I’m going to miss most is the interactions with the students. In the Risk Management job, even though there are other people around, people come to me. People are comfortable coming and chatting. I’ve had a number of students come up to me, kids from the first year of Levien House, and talk about the conversations we had and how appreciative of that they were. Now I’m getting these emails and letters from students from a long time ago talking about their experience when they were in Junior House or Duxbury House. You don’t realize you had that much of an impact. That’s the neat thing about being in this profession: you don’t necessarily realize it at the time, and they don’t realize the impact you have on them until years later. It’s neat that they remember who you were and the experiences that they had.

I hope Shawnigan will continue to develop that well-rounded student and continue to develop and improve on that academic edge. I hope that the programs that we have continue to be supported and everybody can be successful. When the programs are successful and the teams are successful, the School is successful. Academics are the core, and we need to make sure those stay strong, but a school is so much more than academics, and I hope the successes we’ve had over the years continue and the School can continue to attract great staff and great students and continue to be a happy place to come to."

-From an interview with Darrin Austin, retiring staff member who worked at the School from 1991-2023.