February 6, 2023 by Natalie Rock (’23)
Teacher: Mr. Ubriaco
What do you teach?
“How to be human,” Mr Ubriaco said, but went on to further specify his courses. He teaches English, AP Language and Composition, Journalism, and Film and Literature.
Where did you attend college? Likes? Dislikes?
Mr. Ubriaco started out at Suffolk County Community College, then he attended SUNY Geneseo. He has also taken classes at SUNY Oswego, Canandaigua Community College, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Albany, and Hudson Valley Community College. He said, “If anyone has questions about the SUNY experience, I’ve taken classes at most of them.” Throughout Mr. U’s college experience, he had amazing professors that he loved and others that weren’t his favorite. Overall, he loved going to school, though. Geneseo holds a special place in his heart because it was his first time away from home and seemed like going into “a mountain small town, with a lot less traffic.”
Is this what you planned to be doing when you started out in college? If not, what career did you originally plan on?
“I wanted to be a professor of some sort. I was torn between English and History. When I decided to become a teacher, I was torn between elementary and secondary.” Mr. Ubriaco said. He did a lot of subbing to decide what was his favorite. The demanding schedule of elementary teachers, and his love for teaching more advanced literature, made him decide to teach secondary school. He feels he has made the right choice.
What are your hobbies outside of school?
Mr. Ubriaco is a singer and rhythm guitar player in the band Tops of Trees. They just finished a recording, and he is the man behind the lyrics in their songs. They play at Putnam Place and various venues around the capital region. Most of his hobbies surround music and the arts. Additionally, he enjoys the outdoors, traveling, and food. Some of his favorite places he’s been to include, “Banff National Park, in Canada. I cried at Mount Rainier, in Washington. And I did go to Ireland this past summer; that was like… these are my people.”
What does an ideal weekend look like to you?
“Ideally, it’d be a 3-day weekend. But a regular weekend would look like…”
Friday: A dinner with friends and then seeing a live band after dinner.
Saturday: Out to breakfast in the morning. Breakfast would be followed by a hike, a bike ride, canoeing, or a combination of the three. After spending time in the outdoors, he would want to go to a local restaurant and then attend some sort of artistic event, like a play.
Sunday: He would start off his Sunday with a morning meditation retreat. After that, the afternoon of board games would begin. Catan and Splendor are both on the current rotation. The night would end with a good book by the fire, and then an episode of a Netflix show. His current read is The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, and a favorite show is Hunter x Hunter. He says he’d also enjoy visiting an art museum, like Mass MOCA, and playing games with his family.
What would your last meal be?
Mr. U would want a southern cooked meal with fried chicken, collard greens, and grits. If it was possible, he would want his grandmother’s Italian food.
If a genie granted you 3 wishes right now, what would you wish for?
1) “I wish once a day everybody on earth danced at the same time.”
2) “I wish everybody could accept themselves as they are.”
3) “I would be able to have lunch with mom.”
How would people close to you describe you?
Loyal, passionate, hardworking, and unpredictable.
What is something on your bucket list?
Mr. U has a lot of music bucket list items. Some of these include seeing Van Morrison in Ireland, going to the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and going to South by Southwest. He added, “there are also so many travel places, but that gets silly.” However, if he had to choose one place he would love to go, it would be the area between Switzerland and Italy.
What is your biggest accomplishment?
Mr. Ubriaco said, “Raising 2 wonderful, thoughtful, intelligent, grounded young men.” His sons are 20 and 29.
What is one thing that your students don’t know about you?
“I can be sensitive. Some things can hurt. Students might say something and it’s like…I’m a human being over here. You can criticize, but you can do it in a gentle way,” said Mr. U. He said he can get competitive playing games like Catan and Ping Pong, despite his peaceful preseenation. Another thing you might not know is that Mr. U had heart surgery when he was 30. He also mentioned he’s seen the Grateful Dead 40 times, but his students might be able to guess that.
Additional things you want people to know:
“Maybe just everyone can relax together. Stop taking things so seriously. We can all relax together, and dance more.”