Featured Teachers: Betsy Tapia
Get to know some of our teachers through the Proust Questionnaire, liberally adapted from French writer Marcel Proust (1871–1922).
Betsy Tapia teaches English II, Pre AP English, English IV-AP, Humanities, Drama, Creative Writing, and The Novel & Its Images. She has been a teacher for 33 years and has taught at St. Michael’s for 28 years.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a rock and roll singer—I am a product of the ‘60s.
What is your favorite animal?
Elephant.
What is your favorite color?
Black.
Your most marked characteristic?
Persistence.
What do you think are your greatest faults?
Impatience, impatience, impatience.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Watching my daughter, Desirae, learn and grow.
Who is your favorite artist or musician?
My favorite musician is Miles Davis.
Who are your favorite writers or poets?
My favorite writers are Flannery O’Connor, Virginia Woolf, and Robertson Davies.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Tayo from Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko.
Who are your favorite characters in history?
Winston Churchill and Indira Ghandi.
What quality do you most admire in people?
Humility.
Where would you most like to travel?
Italy.
If you had not become a teacher, what would you like to have done instead?
Design and build log cabins.
What do you most value in your friends?
Intelligence and generosity.
What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
The loss of home and family.
What is your favorite word?
“and”
What is your greatest pet peeve?
Laziness and dishonesty.
What natural gift would you most like to possess?
I would like to be able to draw.
What is your motto?
“Take care of your business and your business will take care of you.”
Guardedly optimistic.