A self-proclaimed “sci-fi nerd”, Dr. Chad Vicenik joined the Marymount faculty as a physics and math teacher this fall. Hailing from the quirkily named suburb of Tomball, Texas, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of science in both physics and astronomy. He then earned his doctorate degree in linguistics at UCLA, right across the street from Marymount. Here, Dr. Vicenik explains how he ended up teaching physics and math after earning his degree in linguistics; his story exemplifies just how much education can change perspectives and in his case, even careers!

Was teaching always your ideal job?

I always wanted to teach. In high school, I wanted to be a teacher more so than anything else. So that was my goal basically: to be a college professor. But to get hired and teach at a university, you need to teach and do research. The “and” part is important, and so I knew that if I was going to do that I needed to find a field that I both enjoyed and thought I could do good research in.

How did you decide what field to focus on?

In high school my favorite subjects were math and physics, especially. So I went to college and I started out in physics, and then I learned what modern physics was, which was quantum mechanics and things like that. There’s a saying, even among physicists, that there are only four people in the world who think they understand quantum mechanics, but they secretly don’t. I thought, “There’s no way I can advance the field.” So I quickly switched over to astronomy. I really enjoyed [it], because it’s a lot of stellar chemistry, none of which was really difficult to understand.

 So after switching over, did you feel like you had found your niche?

I really enjoyed astronomy but when I took math, physics, and astronomy courses I was really just taking math, math, and math courses, so I would always try to take random humanities-type courses. One random weird course taught by a graduate student came up called ‘Introduction to Tolkien Linguistics’; it was kind of silly and pointless but fun. When it came to apply to grad school, I realized I was spending more of my time thinking about linguistics than astronomy; I thought I could contribute more to linguistics than astronomy. So I came out here to UCLA, which has one of the best linguistics departments.

Favorite TV Shows?

I love “Dr. Who”. I’m a sci-fi nerd. “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is pretty good, too. I was a huge Trekkie as a kid. I love “Stargate”, all the “Stargate” films. I watch a lot of TV.

Since you love “Star Trek”, which series is better: Original or “Next Generation”?

My favorite is actually “Deep Space Nine”. I respect them all; it’s harder for me to watch an Original series episode since they’re all old and campy.

Favorite “Star Trek” captain?

I don’t know, that one’s tough. But I guess, Kirk.

What are your favorite movies?

I’m also a huge comic nerd, so all of the Marvel movies right now have been fantastic. I’ve always been a Marvel kid: Marvel over DC. The Indiana Jones trilogy, too, [“Raiders of the Lost Ark”] is really good. I could never get enough “Back to the Future” too. “The Dark Knight” is probably the best superhero movie ever made; every aspect of it was pure art.

If you could, what fictional world would you live in?

Marvel, duh.

How has your MM experience been so far?

I don’t know if I’ve had time to reflect on that, since I’ve been learning how to teach four different courses. But the [Junior] Retreat was interesting; it was so unexpected. I was like “Oh my God? What?” when there were so many emotions running during one of the activities. That was pretty surprising!

Have you been able to meet all of the faculty?

Everyone is really nice, and I’ve become friends with mostly everyone. I’ve become really close to the science and math departments, especially the faculty members that went on retreat. I’ve met a lot of people across the departments, like Mr. Baker and Ms. Lebenzon, even though they’re all the way across the school.

In your first couple months on campus, have you ventured into the café?

Oh, I usually cook so I bring my own lunch. Why?

There’s so much food and candy! It’s a Marymount thing.

I have no willpower with sugar and sweets. So it’s probably best I don’t tempt myself!