A born and raised Michigander, Andrew Nester is no stranger to hard work. Growing up in the Township of Davison, Nester learned the value of integrity and has held it with him to this day.
When the reporter came into his classroom to interview him, they noticed that he was very laid back and calm. When the journalist started the interview, Nester leaned back in his desk chair, put his feet on his desk and hands behind his head. Nester kept eye contact throughout nearly all of the interview.
Nester is a huge Michigan State fan. “We’re a big Michigan State family, my dad went there, my brother went there. So I couldn’t even picture going anywhere else, that’s where I went to college.”
Life is filled with many different twists and turns. The reporter asked when he went to college was teaching the first thing Nester went in for. “No, movies glamorized young entrepreneurs, Wall Street and money making. You know, traveling girlfriends. I think in my yearbook I said I would work on wall street, own a condo in New York and rule the world; which couldn’t be further from the truth and how it worked out.”
Despite not knowing what he wanted to do, a teacher he had in high school suggested teaching as a career to him. “I did have one teacher in high school constantly suggest I start teaching when I got out of high school for a career. He saw that I cared about other people and enjoyed working on others behalf on their successes I guess.”
Nester didn’t believe the teacher at first. When he went to college he walked in thinking he knew what he wanted to do. Little did he know he would try a lot of different paths.
“But yeah, it was in college that I tried them all, my dad was a civil engineer so I tried engineering, it didn’t work out so the next money maker was a doctor. I fainted at the first cadaver I saw in a college medical class so that didn’t work out. Then I went into pre-law, and stayed there the longest.”
Nester then continued, “I roomed with some kids that were in law school, even brand new lawyers. I saw that job to be a real challenge to consistently make the kind of money that I wanted to make. So I remember telling my dad I was gonna take everything I’ve done and put it into an education degree and coach sports that I love to play and be a teacher and he about did a back-flip.”
Nester has gone through many different phases of his life, going to college was just one of many. The reporter asked him what were some of the biggest achievements of his life.
“I always wanted to be a dad and a good one. I’m pretty proud of my kids. I wanted to be a professional that left at the top of their game; I work hard every day. I wanted to be good at what I do. I wanted to have close friends that I spend time with that I care about. Obviously I’m still working on all of those.”
Despite being a very diligent worker he’s not one to shy away from doing hobbies in his leisure time. “I think it’s important to keep getting new ones. I love spending time with my kids and they are just amazing to me. I love to obviously golf. I’m trying to keep as physically strong at my age in order to keep up with 20 somethings [20 year olds]. I’ve been able to do it so far, but it’s been getting harder every year. I also like to fish, and have been thinking more about traveling with my family.”
Nester is very proud of many things, his kids, career, close friends he made throughout his life, and the students lives he was able to help through his years of teaching. He hopes to continue his passions and to continue changing kids for the better.
