A shared passion for helping students succeed is one of several interests that keeps the spark alive for one couple in Marshall’s Department of Mathematics and Physics and College of Education and Professional Development.
Associate professor Sean McBride and assistant professor Sachiko McBride said their shared love of teaching is at the heart of their relationship.
“I think we would often say that we try to compete to be the best teacher,” Sean said. “We both get the same enjoyment out of seeing the face made with the light bulb goes on for one of our students.”
Sachiko said working in the same department allows the couple to not only come together, but enables them to better serve their students.
“The information and ideas we have are usually geared to the same goal: helping students, so that is very beneficial for us and the students,” Sachiko said.
The couple said they have been two peas in a pod since their graduate school dates at Kansas State University. The couple first met when Sean was a senior graduate student in his last year and Sachiko was an incoming graduate student.
“Our offices were next to each other,” Sean said. “We saw each other going in and out, and it started our friendship.”
While the pair kindled their connection in graduate school, long distance would soon be a part of their relationship they said.
“We spent a lot of our time in front of a computer grading with Skype on,” Sean said. “It would sometimes be dead silent, but we had each other’s company.”
Graduate school and a long distance relationship required immense dedication – something Sachiko said Sean helped guide her with.
On the occasion Sachiko felt overwhelmed, she said, “It’s easy for me to realize I have to do this, then this, then this – getting overwhelmed, but he always has a way to calm me down and can guide me through it,” Sachiko said.
On the other hand, Sean said Sachiko is the master of work-life balance.
“She is able to consistently balance everything,” Sean said. “She manages being a wife, mom and professor, and I think she makes it look easy.”
The McBrides’ instinctive connection translated to their wedding day as well, they said.
“We actually went to Vegas to get married,” Sean said. “We wanted to mimic a traditional wedding, but do it with one of those all-inclusive wedding packages that took all of the stress off and made it very enjoyable for everyone.”
Sachiko said her family flying in from Japan made the day all the more special.
“My sister loves makeup and hair, so I asked her to do mine for the wedding,” Sachiko said. “She did it for me and got me all done up.”
While Sachiko’s family flew in from Japan to celebrate the couple’s wedding, she and Sean had once shared a special date at her father’s restaurant in Japan – something the couple said sticks as a special memory.
“We spent the day talking with him and hanging out in his restaurant,” Sean said. “That was like an eight hour date.”
Nowadays, the couple said they enjoy spending time with their four-year-old son, Corbin.
“We play games together, and he likes movie night,” Sachiko said.
Likewise, Sean said they enjoy outdoor activities like fishing and camping, and they plan to include even more as Corbin grows older.
“We’ll start with camping out in the backyard and then extend the distance from the house until we see if he likes it,” Sean said.
For now, the McBrides said they plan to continue collaborating not just in teaching and raising their son, but also in every aspect of their lives.
Kaitlyn Fleming can be contacted at [email protected].
