Mark Bergmooser started teaching Tae Kwon Do at MCCC in 1998 and has been teaching it year round ever since.
“I love it now more than I ever have,” Bergmooser said.
Bergmooser started teaching part time in 1996 and became a full time member of the faculty in 1999.
Besides Tae Kwon Do, he also teaches four speech courses, several humanities courses, and various self defense courses.
“I’m very lucky in terms of all I teach,” he said. “I’m constantly learning new things as I teach.”
Teachers get smarter as they get more practice, he said.
“We’ve got a great group of people out here. The school supports it, and I plan to teach it until I retire,” Bergmooser said.
“It’s my place to go no matter how bad my day has been.”
The class brings students and exposure to the college, he said.
“I’m really lucky that I get to spend my life doing the things I love.”
His Tae Kwon Do class is open to everyone, with students as young as 5 and as old as 72.
“It’s a dynamic class all year. There’s always something new because of the students,” he said. “I have people take it for a month. Some have been taking it for ten years.”
Bergmooser believes that Tae Kwon Do teaches students discipline and gives them self confidence, and he credits it with his own success.
“I would have never gotten this job were it not for Tae Kwon Do”
“I hope everybody can take a class like this,” he said.
Bergmooser attended his first Tae Kwon Do class in February 1985.
“I just wanted to learn how to defend myself,” he said.
He added that his cousin and “The Karate Kid” helped spark his interest in martial arts.
“I tried Kung Fu class for a few months before discovering Tae Kwon Do,” he said.
“It was reccomended to me by my Kung Fu instructor.”
“When I went to that first Tae Kwon Do class, I knew it was my thing” he added.
“After that there was no turning back. It’s been with me my whole life.”
New classes start August 30.
