What is your name and your department? My name is Stephanie Salem and I teach in the English department.
What led you to this career? I went into college undecided in my major. I thought about either being a physics teacher or an English teacher, but I really liked a couple of the professors I had in my freshman classes. I got to take a harder English class early on so it was more interesting. So then I stuck with English and now I’m here.
What are your interests? I like to try lots of different kinds of food from lots of different places. Also when possible, I like to travel to different places so I can see.
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be and why? I have been to a fair number of places but one place I still want to go is Australia because I was supposed to go in 2017. But then, the day we were supposed to go was the day I had my daughter and so we had to cancel our trip. But now that is why she is named Sydney.
What should people know about you? I like to read dystopian trilogies. I like movie theater popcorn. I really like candy. I have a lot of shoes.
What is your idea for a perfect day? Well, I really do actually like cold and rainy days. If I can, stay inside and watch a movie or read a book. Like lying on the couch with blankets and stuff. But for that to actually be a perfect day I might need my kids to have a babysitter for me to enjoy it. I also like sunny days on the beach though.
If you could have dinner with any celebrity who would it be and why? Maybe Beyonce I feel like she could talk about a lot of subjects. She could, you know, as a business person and a performer and a woman of color with power and status and all those things.
What other jobs did you have before becoming a teacher? My first job when I was in high school, was at a bakery. That was in Skokie, It’s not there anymore. And we learned how to write “Happy Birthday” and fill cannolis and we used to get to take stuff at the end of the night that didn’t see so I would bring snacks to my friends in high school. I worked at Coldwater Creek, which is like an old lady clothing store for a while when I was in college so that I wouldn’t spend all my money at the store. But I used to buy my grandma stuff from there. I was a camp counselor, and I worked a temp job at an office building that dealt with transporting scrap metal from the United States to China. It was a very weird job. In my first teaching job, I lived in Mexico and taught in a bilingual school.
What makes you happy? I like doing fun things with my kids. I like talking to people. I talk a lot. I like talking to different people and seeing how things are going for them.
What is your favorite music to listen to? I have a very varied music taste. But I listen to some reggae, R&B, and probably what is now older music like the early 2000s.
What is your favorite family tradition? We have Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s house. Now there are a lot of generations of people, but as many people can still kind of gather for that. That would probably be one of my favorite things. It’s just fun. And you can still do your own family Christmas the next day but everyone comes and has dinner together on Christmas Eve.
How would your friends describe you? Mrs. Hanson said something to me the other day, I’m a friendly know-it-all. Because I talk to people all the time and I’m in everybody’s business, but in a nice way.
