Success. A word that torments many young minds worldwide, with millions if not billions solely chasing this word. But what, or who, embodies the word success? Answers to this question are abundant; Mark Glaess, author, speaker, husband, father, and teacher, is without a doubt one of those answers.
Glaess was born in a small-town world, with a big-time father; a chairman of the education department, and one of the most revered professors in the region. Born in Pigeon, Michigan, Glaess describes his childhood as “idyllic.” Glaess was an only child for about 20 minutes, until his twin sister was born. His family then moved to Detroit, but they wouldn’t stay long, as his dad was offered a college teaching job in the small town of Seward, Nebraska. “In my high school [there were] 160 kids, 40 in each class,” according to Glaess. Due to the small size of the school, Glaess took up sports, eventually being offered a football scholarship in Chicago.
From there, his professional career blossomed into a great success. “I’ve given probably over 1,000 presentations,” says Glaess. This practically puts him in the company of Tony Robbins, or Elon Musk⸺minus all of the idea theft, disregard for workers’ rights, promotion of hate speech, and monopolization, so maybe not Elon Musk. Later in life, Glaess went on to testify before Congress There, he advocated for a more robust electric system for rural communities, much like the one Glaess grew up in. “I went to a lot of fundraisers where you meet people you’ve never met before, so you have to adapt that persona about looking forward to meeting new people, which I enjoyed doing.” Despite his initial exposure to teaching being a class of rowdy 5th graders, he later found his way back to it with a joyful approach in the form of substitute teaching: “It is such a great opportunity for me to teach, and I hope that it’s infectious.” Glaess later discusses the advancement of access to information, saying, “I am so envious. Of all the things you can do and learn at your age, I mean it’s just phenomenal.”
Now you know what Glaess has done, and where he’s from, but who is he really? In terms of pizza, Glaess believes if he were a pizza, his toppings would be, “sausage, pineapple, onions, I really like onions, asparagus, that’s always really good on pizza, oh, broccoli!” However, Glaess wouldn’t just put pineapple on his pizza, he swears by it: “I advise all the children, if I have lunch room duty, to put pineapple on pizza. I am sort of messianic about that thing.” Franklin High School student Lane Johnson, who had Glaess as a substitute teacher in the past, despite not knowing him personally, stated that if Glaess was a pizza, he would indeed have pineapple on it.
Later Glaess gave his idea of what kind of donut he would be: “I’d have to go with how I explained how to pronounce my last name Glaess, which is Glaezzed donuts,” he laughed. However, Johnson has a different depiction in mind, saying, “do you know the Voodoo Donut with the pink frosting, and sprinkles with the bubble gum in the middle? I think that’s what he would be.”
Do you know what goes well with a slice of Mark Glaess pizza and a Glaezzed donut on a cold, cloudy, and miserable Portland day? The film “The Sound of Music.” which is one of Glaess’s all-time favorites.
Nowadays Glaess is a fan of living on the Oregon Coast with his wife Debbie Glaess. But, in times past, much like the actor and fan of similar acts Rami Malek, Glaess was a fan of mischief. Mischief like the time when Glaess was in college and was “irritated” by some of his classmates, so he ripped off some stationary from the dean of students and composed a letter to a kid Glaess didn’t like. “It basically said,” he laughed, “‘My good friend Mark Glaess, who is the most prized student at this college, informed me that you did this, this, and this, and I want you to come by my office and we are going to have a serious talk about your behavior.’ A good thing they didn’t turn me in, probably could’ve gotten kicked out of college.” Unfortunately, his master plan didn’t quite work. As he put it, “don’t do this at home.”
This mischief runs in the family. According to Glaess, his sister once had underclassmen go into the library and check out a book every day, until the library was empty, then returned the books all at once. Hearing these stories puts Glaess more in the company of Roman Atwood and HoomanTV on YouTube.
Why does Glaess do these things? I don’t mean the mischief, or pineapples, but rather why he has dedicated his life to teaching other people. In his words, “I hope to make a difference, we all hope to make a difference.” Glaess seeks to make this difference by way of inspiring others. “What I want to do is impress upon my students, something I should have learned when I was their age, how utterly fortunate you are, and I am, to have these educational opportunities.” This encouragement of gratitude has most definitely worked. “He clearly had a lot of passion for what he was doing,” agrees Johnson. And while Glaess may have stated, “I fall short of being any sort of deity,” I have a feeling the success Glaess has achieved in reaching his goal and the thousands of people Glaess has positively affected, would beg to differ.
