“In a lifetime filled with many seasons,” Annie Yi, a San Rafael High School Art teacher, has a passion for art that beams through her own classroom and throughout the whole campus.
“She’s always checking up on me and I like the advice she gives me on how to improve as a better artist,” said Senior Leslie Rios, an AP Art student.
Senior Savannah Rogers, former AP Art student of Yi’s, added, “She is always encouraging you to do your best and she helped me get to where I want to be in my art journey.”
Growing up, Annie Yi’s parents, Johnny and Julie Yi, taught her a lot of valuable lessons about work ethic and to never be lazy. Coming from a hard-working immigrant home, Yi’s parents would give their best efforts to still do things as a family, even if it was just eating together at the dinner table.
Sticking together as a family unit has always been set as the norm in the Yi family. “After her first job, I would see my mom supporting me in the stands,” said Yi when talking about her days playing volleyball in high school.
When having to work multiple jobs and needing to provide for your family, it is very easy to forget important events. Despite this, Yi’s parents made huge efforts to always do things as a family, even if it’s just being supportive from the sidelines.
Throughout middle school, Yi tried out many new activities in order to see what she liked doing. She tried out for the middle school volleyball team and ended up really enjoying it. She later continued doing the sport during high school. While on her journey of trying new activities, she found herself really enjoying doing art.
During high school she joined an art class where her teacher, who had a very different style of teaching compared to Yi, saw amazing potential in her artwork. Her art teacher would give her more and more assignments with different challenges. Yi even got to paint many murals in different locations, including malls.
As time for college applications rolled around, several things made Yi have feelings of uncertainty. Just like any senior applying to colleges, Yi was concerned while looking at where she could go, finding scholarships, and considering if she could get into college. Majoring in art was on her mind when applying, so she figured she would apply for that major and figure out what to do with it later.
“Being an art teacher didn’t cross my mind,” said Yi. Through college she was able to figure out what she wanted to be after doing many hours of volunteer work as an instructor.
Yi’s teacher would give her creative independence and even allow her to design some art lessons. This sparked her interest in teaching art and she decided to join another college course in the education department.
Being able to get first hand experience on what it is like to be a teacher really helped Yi learn. For this reason, she is grateful for her mentor who helped her go through the process of becoming a teacher. Her mentor was also able to write a really great letter of recommendation for Yi which would later help her land a job in Marin County.
Her teaching journey began at Davidson Middle School before transferring over to San Rafael High school as an Art teacher. Her colleagues, Johanna Herrera and Nazira Kury, all help one another while also trusting and appreciating one another’s differences. Although they each have their separate strengths and weaknesses, they all work in harmony.
“Yi is a talented art educator which is evident by the quality of her student’s work,” said Photography and Yearbook teacher Kury.
Teaching comes with many rewards and benefits and though it may seem easy, challenges arise in ways people wouldn’t always expect. With budget cuts, music and arts programs are usually the first ones to go. Having to financially support your job in order to maintain it creates a constant pressure, which is a tough challenge.
Art isn’t just about using paper and pencil, it’s about exploring and using different mediums to express different ideas.
The ambition Yi has for herself in the future is to one day be able to go into her next step of education which would be getting her PhD. Yet there are many things she has to consider first, like her family with three little girls, her health, and overall responsibilities she oversees.
“I want to better myself, [but managing] what will it take from and who will it take from is a sort of continual challenge,” said Yi.
The environment that Yi grew up with is reflected in the present time. Coming from an immigrant home, she often helped translate and teach new things to her parents. She feels this helped shape her into who she is today.
Even with the persistent challenges Yi encounters, her family comes first in mind as she still continues to set up a path to achieve her goals.
