Spending his teenage years on the water riding waves, surfing was a unique career choice for Galileo’s new art teacher, Mr. Schieldhauer. During this time he used meaningful experiences, combined with his fierce competition to build character as an individual and for his athletic career.
From a young age, Mr. Schieldhauer’s earliest memories were created at the beach due to having marine biologists as parents. After finding a surfboard lying around at home, he was immediately hooked.
From that point on, he was on the water constantly, and after developing this new passion involved himself in competitive surfing from the time he was 10 to 22 (Fun fact: One of his surfing instructors was Jack Johnson). Despite not having the typical high school experience. Mr. Schieldhauer thoroughly enjoyed this time, as he had a lot of fun traveling and meeting other surfers.
Something he learned from the experience of surfing was how to lose, since it is a sport where you can only rely on yourself. “There’s only one winner and it’s all on you, you have no one to blame but yourself,” he claims, regarding the experience of losing.
However, after injuring both of his knees surfing, Mr. Schildhauer realized he would no longer be able to pursue a career professionally surfing, so his fallback was his passion for art and he began to consider teaching it. Prior to surfing, he already loved art since he was child and drew nearly everyday, when he wasn’t surfing, which carried on into his adulthood.
“I believe that the idea of art really expands to the idea of creativity, and that’s something that all people can apply to their lives. Whether you’re a lawyer or a mathematician or working at a restaurant, creativity only benefits and nurtures that way of seeing deeper into things,” says Mr. Schieldhauer.
Even with his full time job now as an art teacher, Mr. Schieldhauer still finds time to surf at Ocean Beach when the waves are nice.
