November Teacher Feature: Mr. Nysse

Photo submitted by Mr. Nysse.

Evan Rosenau

This month’s teacher feature is the Hamilton legend, Mr. Nysse. A UW-Green Bay and Northern Arizona alumni, with majors in English, History, and Philosophy, he’s been teaching for 24 years, all at Hamilton. Married with three kids, you can find him cross-country skiing when it's snowing and biking when it isn’t. If he can’t do either, he enjoys walking his dog and listening to The History of English Podcast. 

Get to know him more:

What song do you know all the lyrics to?

What songs do I not know the lyrics to? Remember, we old people had to memorize our favorite songs and phone numbers.  My favorite song right now is “Somebody Else” by The 1975. 

What superpower would you like to have?

The ability to immediately be somewhere. I don’t like traveling. I like being there. 

If you won 100 million dollars, what would you buy first?

A house in Breckenridge. 

What would your perfect room/classroom look like?

Tables and a comfortable seating area for reading and discussion. Give me a couch or two. 

What would you change about Hamilton and why?

Going to a reliable funding model (more of a state issue) where costs, salaries, and budgets are not subject to changes year by year. 

What fictional character best represents you?

I aspire to be Atticus Finch. I am a little too serious at work, completely devoted to my own children, and a really good shot. 

Are there more wheels or doors in the world? Why?

Doors are better metaphors than wheels. I am watching The Wheel of Time, and that metaphor is too strained. I like doors because they are more versatile when writing fiction. 

What Crayola Crayon color are you? (The more specific the better!)

Blue. I color most of my clothes that color. 

Favorite book(s)?

-I Curse the River of Time-Per Petterson

-Crossing to Safety-Wallace Stegner

If you could trade classrooms with any teacher at Hamilton, who would it be and why?

I want room 53 back. I think it’s Fields’s classroom now. 

If you weren't teaching, what would you do?

Physical therapy. 

Describe yourself in one sentence.

Very few people know me. 

What weapon would you carry during the Zombie Apocalypse?

The dialogue of Socrates.

Who would you team up with and why?

Mr. Pechanach. We work well together, and our classes were awesome. 

What unsolved mystery do you wish you knew the answer to?

Who was Shakespeare? Or, more presently, why is my shoe squeaking?

What’s your favorite college memory?

Getting set up on a date with the woman I am now married to. 

If you could meet anyone in history, who would be and why?

Shakespeare.

What is the weirdest thing you have done to get your students’ attention?

I like to dance. It usually weirds people out enough to silence the room. 

What is the best advice you have received?

An English professor once told me to “go to the text.” If you can’t find it there, it doesn’t exist. I think that was a metaphor. 

What’s the funniest or most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you as a teacher?

During COVID, my dog attacked my computer, and all the kids discovered I was teaching from my bed. 

What would you rather do: Meet your future self or go back in time and talk with your past self? Why?

Neither. I know that you have to live with your decisions and wishing your life was different would mean the good goes away too. I don’t want to see the future either. 

What's your favorite age group to teach? (freshman, sophomore, etc.)

I like my freshmen. They are the perfect age for me.