By Julian De Ocampo ’13
THE ROUNDUP

“Mr. Smith is not as he seems under that cool, calm exterior,” Mr. Mike Nelson ’96 joked. “On the inside there is a crazy man. Dangerous.”

Mr. Nelson was referring to his fellow Brophy alumnus, Mr. Steve Smith ’96.

Mr. Smith said he became friends with Mr. Nelson, who now teaches at Brophy alongside Mr. Smith, while they roamed the halls of Brophy.

“We met at Brophy, where we learned that we lived one street away all of our lives,” Mr. Smith said. “We became best friends after that.”

“We hatched a plan as sophomores,” Mr. Nelson quipped, “that we would come back as adults and take over the school together. He would be the muscles. I would be the brains.”

Mr. Smith is now five years into his teaching career at Brophy, but he initially did not think he would be a teacher. He said that his initial desire was to become a writer, but found that teaching was a better fit for him.

After graduating Brophy, Mr. Smith attended Arizona State University and lived in New York City. After teaching at various public schools for five years, he decided to make his return at Brophy teaching English I.

Mr. Smith spends time working on The Wrangler, the school’s satirical newspaper, but he describes himself as more of a family man. Last year, Mr. Smith and his wife added a new member to his family, a baby boy named Noah.

When asked what he does with his free time, Mr. Smith said, “I wish I could say that I’m secretly in some indie-rock band, but I have no musical ability whatsoever. I spend all my time with my wife and children. My oldest son has been getting into video games – we’ve almost completed Lego Star Wars.”

This year, Mr. Smith has one wish for his students:

“I hope that they see me as someone who is kind and someone who is always willing to help.”