Instructor Spotlight: Dr. Zarlengo
Dr. Zarlengo is currently Head of the English Department at OHS. She teaches both Advanced Placement English Language and Composition as well as Legal Studies: Constitutional Law.
Those who know Dr. Zarlengo know that she approaches her teaching with an infectious enthusiasm and a welcoming tone, encouraging students to voice their opinions and thoughts regardless of level of sophistication. Because of her energy, it may come as a shock to many students that Dr. Zarlengo doesn’t actually love teaching in general. “It can drain the soul: there is something strange about talking about things you know well among people who do not know it well, yet depend on you to get it right,” she explains. Though teaching itself is not loved by Dr. Zarlengo, she does love teaching at OHS because of the people. She finds the OHS atmosphere and its students to be “energizing” and “inspiring”.
Born in Colorado, Dr. Zarlengo did not always know she would end up in California doing what she does today. During college, Dr. Zarlengo worked as both a barista and a Princeton Review tutor. Her work at the Princeton Review taught her about what it is to be a teacher and, from there, the rest is history. Before she joined OHS’s faculty, she taught college English, worked as a freelance writer, then practiced law for seven years before she had an interview with the Head of the English department at OHS. During this interview, she got a sense of the school and found that she really likes the environment and atmosphere. She decided she wanted the job and started with teaching English, then Legal Studies, and worked her way to Head of the English Department.
Today, Dr. Zarlengo is well known for her knowledge on comparative literature and all things legal studies. In her graduate studies, Dr. Zarlengo filled nearly all of her elective spots in college with English courses, simply fascinated with literature. She explains that she loves the English language and adores comparative literature. However, teaching legal studies was not always a given for her, and she explains that teaching legal studies was a personal mission. “Law really is not taught outside of law school in the U.S…” she says, “and it’s not as though High School students are not cognitively ready to learn the law.” Thanks to Dr. Zarlengo’s persistence, and the OHS’s spirit of adventure, Legal Studies is now offered at OHS and is a course truly helpful in introducing students to the law.
Outside of teaching and working with the OHS community, Dr. Zarlengo loves spending time with her family, participating in yoga, having good conversations, and focusing on “the power of language.” She loves hiking with her friends so that she can have both a good conversation and admire the beauty and nature surrounding her. Dr. Zarlengo also cooks when she is in the mood, which, she explains, is not very often. But, every two weeks or so, she takes up cooking as one of her hobbies.
Many students view Dr. Zarlengo as an inspiration, and the advice she offers to her students does just that: inspires them. She advises students to realize that it’s a big world out there, and, while society can often tempt us to package ourselves up with a singular idea of who we are, who and what you are is “magnificently open-ended.” If you end up in the wrong place, take a turn, make a shift, and remember that you have ongoing power to choose who you want to be.