Mr. Mike Weber, a guidance counselor at Morton East, is retiring after 32 years of service. He initially started as a psychology teacher but transitioned into counseling because he felt it was a better fit.

Question: What are your plans after retiring?

Answer: “I will be moving to Florida. In the first year, I would like to travel and visit my kids; after that, I don’t know. I know I won’t be in Illinois, though.”

Q: What was the saddest moment you had at East?

A: “During my first year of work, one of my students got shot, and I thought he was going to die. I did visit him at the hospital.”Other ones: “In my fourth year, another one of my students got shot and was paralyzed.”

Q: Who impacted you the most?

A: “Mr. Gamboa and his willingness to look at other perspectives and make decisions that he believes are best for everyone. His leadership is extremely impressive, and he works very hard to meet the visions of the Morton East family.”

Q: Is there any day you wish you could forget?

A: “The day one of my students committed suicide.”

Q: What accomplishments are you most proud of?

A: “Wow, this is hard. In my first five years of teaching, I kept pushing a student to go to college and get her degree. Years later, we became friends on Facebook, and she said to me, ‘You’ve impacted me to go to Western and get a nursing degree. That’s where I met my husband.’ She told me that if it wasn’t for me pushing her, she wouldn’t have met the love of her life. Another thing I remember that choked me up was when one of my students went to an FBI training program, and she said to me, ‘Mr. Weber, you always supported me and listened to me. I want you to have my badge.’ That badge was the one thing she used to go in and out. Not many people thank you throughout your lifetime, so you never know who you have truly impacted. But when you do get that small group of people who do, you truly know you’ve made an impact, and it feels nice knowing that.”

Q: Is there anything you won’t miss?

A: “Waking up early in the morning, haha. I will not miss having to wake up, but I will miss this place a lot.”

Q: What would you consider a life well-lived?

A: “Continuing to grow in productivity. Productivity impacts others in a positive way. I look forward to being with my kids, not in the sense of raising them anymore, but simply enjoying them.”

Q: What did you love most about your job?

A: “The energy and essence of high school kids. I’ve complained a lot, but I just kept coming back for 30-something years, so you kids are pretty special.”

Q: What would you like to say to the students?

A: “Learn how to fish. Don’t wait for someone to hand you a fish. If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him, he’ll eat for the rest of his life. We give students fish, which makes them just want to eat and not learn. Let’s quit handing out band-aids and actually fix the source of the problem.”

One more thing:  “Life exhilarates with respect and responsibility.”

Mr. Mike Weber is a wonderful human being, and we are all sad to see him go. But as we know, sometimes we have to let go of the people we care about so that new happiness and beginnings can sprout and grow. Thank you, Mr. Weber, for helping and leaving a great impact on so many students, including myself. Because of you I see the world through different colored lenses and was motivated to apply and visit colleges that I never thought to.