Life as an Educator: Continuing the “Family Business”

By Lorin Marchese
Coordinator, Strategic Educational Alliances

Empty classroom row of desks

Like many other teachers’ kids, I spent a lot of extra time in classrooms during the school year. But, unlike most, I also spent my vacations in them.

The school year was spent with my father who taught social studies and coached baseball and softball at a local Phoenix high school. Summer vacations were spent with his mother, my grandmother, who taught at a high school in Kearny, New Jersey.

Education is in some ways the Marchese “family business” and to be honest, for the longest time, I wanted nothing to do with it. I could not see how they both enjoyed their jobs so much. I could not understand how they could enjoy all of the extra hours and the complaining that came from the students and parents. The idea of teaching, of being anywhere near a classroom, was the furthest thing from my mind. 

So, I studied business in college and pursued it. Then in 2008, I was unemployed and took a job as the assistant to the athletic director at a local Catholic high school. To be honest, I took the job thinking I would do it until a “real job” came along.

But then I fell in love.

I fell in love with the atmosphere, with the students and with the feeling that came from helping them. There is no feeling like when a student thanks you for your help, says hi to you when they see you out and about or remembers you years later. I have even had former students who I did not remember talking to, come up to me at different events and say how much they appreciated what I did for them. I finally understood why my grandmother and father did what they did for as long as they did.

When I decided to come to GCU, I took a position that allowed me to blend my business background and love of being an educator – it is a position that I have loved since day one.

In addition to my time as a staff member, I have been a master’s student – first in the MBA program and again soon in an MEd program. The GCU College of Education has an amazing leadership program for adults who may have started in a different industry, but want to move into the educational arena. I am looking forward to starting the program in November, and after that, pursuing a leadership position that will allow me to continue to work with students and help them grow.

In doing this, I am so proud to be continuing in the “family business” as a third generation educator, following in the footsteps of both my grandmother and my father. Not many can say that they are this blessed, and it is something that I will always be grateful for.

The College of Education helps you learn how to deliver quality education and enrich lives across a variety of school and community settings. Find out more about our college by visiting our website or contacting us today using the Request More Information button.

More about Lorin Marchese:

Having served in multiple roles during her five-year career in K-12 education, Lorin Marchese now serves as the administrative coordinator to the Strategic Education Alliances department at Grand Canyon University. She has held the titles of assistant to the athletic director, student leadership team coordinator and director of extended day and athletics at Notre Dame Preparatory High School and Blessed Pope John XXIII Catholic School, in Scottsdale. Lorin received her bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing from Loyola Marymount University and her MBA from Grand Canyon University in 2015.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.

Scroll back to top