Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Gross.
Hi Mark, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Embracing difference has always been one of my core values. My white paternal grandparents had two biological children (one of whom is my father) and adopted four mixed children, so extended family gatherings on my dad’s side were always wonderfully rich and meaningful. Family, I learned from an early age, is supposed to look and sound different from me. My maternal grandparents emigrated from Ireland to San Francisco, so I’m half Irish and have Irish citizenship through them.
Growing up in San Francisco further reinforced my value of embracing diversity and inclusion. These values were built into the San Francisco School, where I went from pre-K through eighth grade. I first started to realize that I was different when I was in middle school, when I was diagnosed with ADHD. During my high school years, my differences grew and became more apparent, but I didn’t know what being neurodivergent really meant at the time. After I graduated from high school in 2016, I took a gap year in which I traveled as much as possible. Some highlights of those travels include Morocco with my dad around my birthday, Australia, Italy, and Ireland.
When I started attending Vassar College in upstate New York, I stood out due to my social challenges. By then, I was aware that I had difficulty making friends, reading social cues, and recognizing boundaries, but I was still searching for something that would provide context for and clarity about these challenges. Thanks to an Education department email, I discovered Camp Akeela, a camp “where quirky kids thrive”. It was that fateful summer of 2018 when, after having a great time working at Camp Akeela, the puzzle piece (as it were) finally fell into place and I was formally diagnosed with level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder.
I finished up my collegiate education at Middlebury College in Vermont. My first year at Middlebury was challenging for me; I felt like a freshman because I had just transferred, but I was actually a sophomore who still had very little idea about what life or work after college could entail. With the help of social skills therapy from a wonderful local therapist and some very patient fellow students, I was able to learn important social skills and practice them with those students who became my first genuine reciprocal friends. I also went back to Camp Akeela for a second summer in 2019, which started me on the long journey of acceptance of my neurodiversity and piqued my curiosity about Special Education as a career path.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the middle of my junior year of college (my second year at Middlebury), I went back home to San Francisco and stayed with my family. While there were many uncertainties in the late spring and summer of 2020, that time was of critical importance, because that extra time to reflect helped me to determine that I wanted to pursue a Master’s degree in Special Education after I graduated from college. My senior year at Middlebury (Fall 2020 to Spring 2021) was strange for a number of different reasons, but thanks to my few close friends, it was another important year of social learning and growth. It was during this time that I was miraculously accepted into Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and their K-8 Special Education Master’s degree program.
I moved to Nashville in August 2021, and lived in the Hillsboro-Belmont area (shoutout Hayes House and Hillsboro Village) for two years while I completed my Master’s degree and learned how to be a Special Education teacher. I had two great roommates during my Master’s degree, one of whom (Alex Astrella) referred me to this wonderful magazine. Living with my two close friends in my senior year of college was great practice for this experience of living with two new people as an adult. It was during my time at Vanderbilt that I fully accepted and embraced being on the autism spectrum. Alex and I bonded over this shared experience, as well as over our many common interests.
Since the late summer of 2023, I have lived by myself in an apartment on Edmondson Pike near Nippers Corner, driving down to Nolensville to work as a Special Education teacher at a middle school in Williamson County School District. I have continued social skills therapy and made more friends in both low and high places. In my first year of teaching, I started off with my first ever caseload of sixth graders. In May of this year, at the end of my third year of teaching, I sent that cohort of students off to high school. In early August, I started my fourth year of teaching with a brand new cohort of sixth graders. It is incredibly meaningful to be able to be the kind of support person for students that I wish I had when I was their age. As the Carter family sung together, “Will the circle be unbroken, by and by Lord, by and by…”
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have faced a myriad of challenges and obstacles on my journey to where and who I am now. Being on the autism spectrum but having no idea until I was 20 was not easy, nor was the loneliness that came from not having many friends or social outlets for much of my childhood and adolescence. Transferring colleges was also very difficult, as was figuring out next steps during a time of immense global uncertainty. I have been incredibly fortunate to have the support of my parents and other family members throughout this journey, so I am acutely aware that my journey is not nearly as difficult as some others that I know of. That continues to motivate and inspire my work as a middle school Special Education teacher.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a middle school Special Education teacher in Williamson County Schools. I specialize in providing academic and prevocational intervention to students with a variety of learning disabilities. I would say that I am known for my positive attitude, work ethic, relationship-building with students, and determination to advocate for the inclusion of all. There are not a lot of young male neurodivergent middle school Special Education teachers, so that combination of qualities and characteristics sets me apart from others. I would say that I am most proud of the relationships that I have worked so hard to build with my students, fellow teachers, Nashville area friends, and my family.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson that I have learned along my journey of self-acceptance is that genuine connection with other human beings is the most important thing in my life. I find other human beings inherently fascinating, and now that I have greater knowledge about how to connect with them, there is nothing that I would rather be doing. I also love to make these connections in a variety of ways – in the classroom or school building, out on the town (theater, cinema, standup comedy, concerts, restaurants), in church, etc.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markgross98/
