Before math teacher Stephan Shardy entered the classroom to teach precalculus and calculus, he projected the weather forecast to pilots and navigators in the U.S. Air Force.
Dr. Shardy spent about 12 years in the Air Force instructing meteorology to aircrews and lecturing foreign pilots on the key aspects of flight weather. Not only did he work in meteorology, but he also had multiple careers and attended universities such as the University of Akron, Golden Gate University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Trinity Graduate School of Apologetics where he received his BS degree in Mathematics and German, Master of Business Administration, Master’s of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy. He also wrote a book called Spiritual Terrorism, speaks Hebrew and ministers to senior adults at the Mirabella Assisted Living Center.
“At first I started with engineering, but I changed my major to mathematics because I actually liked math,” Dr. Shardy said. “That was my initial major right out of high school, and it paid off.”
To reach these goals, he believed having a plan coming out of high school should be taken into consideration. Looking at the college courses helps the high school graduate know what to expect and influence time management. But these keys required flexibility.
“It’s okay to change your major, sometimes you change your mind,” Dr. Shardy said. “Sometimes things change and you turn onto something.”
Balancing school and life can seem very stressful to some. He attended night school at Golden Gate University to balance his military duties, master’s degree and his family, which was the most important.
“You shouldn’t let one priority slide because the other,” Dr. Shardy said. ”You have to be flexible to be successful.”
After acquiring his Master’s of Business Administration at Golden Gate, Dr. Shardy was inspired by theology, so began to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to study biblical languages and get his Master’s in Theology.
“The Lord called me to seminary to earn my degrees and take that knowledge along with my love of the Biblical languages,” Shardy said.
He really enjoyed theology and became an ordained minister and ministered for nearly 20 years with Mirabella Ministries. The next stop was Trinity Graduate School of Apologetics where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy PhD.
“I met my goal. I accomplished something I dreamed about doing for years, it also helped with my ministry and pride to being a life learner,” Dr. Shardy said. “I always try to retain my goals.”
Living as a learner helped him accomplish all these goals and want to reach out to help other people. Shardy served the position as a vice principal at a school in Fort Worth ISD where he increased his capacity for wisdom. This position required a combination of skills in staff development and evaluation, student discipline management, workshop staff training seminars and other duties assigned by the school principal. But this job did not satisfy him.
“I was encouraged by my college friends and administration, because they saw I had profound leadership traits,” Dr. Shardy said. “I got tired of all the headaches and discipline, and I missed all the kids needing my help.”
Dr. Shardy became a math teacher in 2008 and continues to learn from his students while teaching at the same time.
“When you stop learning, you stop growing as a person,” Dr. Shardy said.
