I was born in Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa is a small island south of Japan, about
4 hours flight south of Tokyo. My hometown
is Nakijin. The last time I visited there (about 20 years ago) there was one
traffic light that everyone ignored. My original parents are both Okinawan.
My parents are divorced and my mother married an American Marine who adopted
me (Hence, the odd juxtaposition of names Tomokazu Switzer). My original last
name was Ooshiro.
I first came to the United States when I was four years old. We lived in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. But we didn't live there long because my mother became incredibly homesick for Okinawa and we went back to the island less than one year later.
When we got back to Okinawa my parents thought that I should be enrolled in kindergarten, but they weren't sure which system to put me in, Okinawan or American. They first tried the American system. However, I did not care to be in school at all so when I was sent to the American kindergarten, I refused to speak any English and spoke only Japanese. The teachers then suggested that I be put in an Okinawan kindergarten. When I was sent to an Okinawan kindergarten, I behaved similarly and refused to speak Japanese and spoke only English. That was when the teachers suggested that I go to an American kindegarten. My parents simply gave up and decided kindergarten was not for me.
That's enough about my personal life.
My mother's name is Sachiko, but everyone calls her Kim (I have no idea where that name comes from). My sister's name is Kim which is kind of confusing. So, they ended up calling my mother, Big Kim, and my little sister, Little Kim. By the way my mom is about 4'9" so there's really nothing big about her (and no she's not fat.. well, maybe a little but only a little) and my sister is about 5'1", but they are still referred to as Big and Little Kim. My stepfather is named Steve henceforth referred to as dad.
I have been teaching in public high schools since the Fall of 1992. My first teaching job was at Brookland-Cayce High School in West Columbia, SC. In my sixth year at BC, I did a "Big No-No" of taking 70 seniors to Disney World and now I'm at Aiken High School. This is now my sixth year at Aiken High School with no travel plans in the near future, heh. I've taught a full gamut of math courses. You can take a look at my vita for details.
http://rpsec.usca.edu/Classwork/703sp2005/Personal/Switzer/
(February, 2005)
The views expressed here are not necessarily
those of the University of South Carolina.