Gabriel Elsden is a first-year math teacher at West High whose Italian heritage has greatly influenced the person he is today. He now uses the values learned from his family in his teaching, promoting friendship and hard work within his classroom. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

 How did your family end up in the United States? 

GE: “My grandfather, he [was] born and raised in Italy, speaks Italian. But then, for college, he actually got into MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My grandfather was a nautical engineer, so he worked on ships. While at MIT, he met my grandma; I think she was a librarian. They got married and had my mom and a few other kids.”

 Did you visit Italy often when you were a kid? 

GE: “When I was a kid, it was probably every other year we were there. Now, my grandparents live in Florence, Italy, but they used to live in Rome, and so I remember spending time in the Coliseum in Vatican City, where the pope lives and that was cool. I remember how good the gelato was. I remember that being my favorite thing. We got that every night.”

Growing up with an Italian background, were there any traditions or customs that your family emphasized? 

GE: “I was Roman Catholic. I went to a Catholic school. We went to Mass every weekend. We were really centered around meal times; meal times are very important for my family. It didn’t matter where you were or what you’re doing, but we ate together, and we prayed for our meals. 

I would say that probably the biggest way that my Italian heritage shaped me growing up was through their religion. It was what kept our family really close together. We also traveled a lot. I mean, I went to Italy five times before I turned the age of 10. We went on cruises with [the family], just because they were very worldly. I would say that was the big thing that I got from my mom’s side of the family. Growing up in small-town Iowa, it’s very easy to [think], ‘Hey, this is my life, this is all it’s going to be. We’re just gonna stay in this town.’ But my mom’s family was so worldly. They told me, get out, you know?”

I know you said you don’t speak Italian, but how important would you say knowing the language is in connecting with your heritage?

GE: “I would say that what’s more important for me is the music. I’m a big music guy, and growing up, we used to listen to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. I mean, my grandfather used to love all those New York, East Coast Italian singers, and so it wasn’t crazy around dinner time to play those songs and like they were just kind of playing in the background, you know. So I’d say the music more so than the language, just because I don’t speak it all that much, but I can appreciate the culture of the music.” 

Do you regret not trying to learn Italian or not getting the opportunity to?

GE: “Italian is not the exact same as Spanish, but they are very parallel. Because of that, I think had I learned Italian, had I taken a bigger interest in it, it probably would have helped me learn Spanish later on. Now that I’m a teacher, I see students who are ELA learners where English isn’t their first language, and I’m so bummed that I don’t know more languages [because] when you become a teacher, you just get really bummed out that you don’t know more stuff. I wish I knew more about languages so that I could teach them to my students. That’s why I regret it.”

How do your Italian family members influence your personal values or your teaching philosophy?

GE: “I would say just big into my Italian heritage is that idea of family and how close we are and letting you know those closest to you know that you care about them. I would say in that closeness, it’s all about building relationships. For me as a teacher, I know I’m definitely not the best teacher in this hallway in terms of content or how I explain things; I probably make a lot of mistakes, but what I try to do is let my students know that I do care about them. I would say [the] closeness of [my] family and the high expectations that have been held for me have influenced me. I would say relationships [were] probably one of the biggest things I took away from that culture.”

What makes Italian culture unique or special?

GE: “A lot of the time, you have a lot of pride. Pride can be a bad thing, but I would say that it’s pride in a good way, because there’s a certain connection that you feel just because you’re Italian. For no better reason other than the fact that you’re Italian. And I’m sure that I would appreciate it even more if I grew up [in Italy]. You kind of just get certain nuances that other people might not, but I guess that’s culture for everybody, so I guess it’s a sense of belonging that you feel.”