For David Leventhal (’07, ’20), the coronavirus pandemic hit during an already challenging time. A nontraditional student, Leventhal returned to UT to pursue a master’s degree in secondary education and teaching during mid-life with a young child to support and a mortgage to pay.
Completing his master’s degree meant spending an entire year as an unpaid intern in local schools. He applied for mortgage forbearance, expecting to graduate with an offer of employment. However, the educational sector was completely upended when COVID-19 hit, and Leventhal’s prospects disappeared.
At that point, the Student Emergency Fund (a scholarship fund borne of pandemic-induced, urgent student need) and the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration helped him navigate the situation to reach a positive outcome. He has since graduated, found full-time employment, and caught up with his mortgage.
“I can’t underestimate how helpful and timely the emergency funding was, as well as the career center support,” Leventhal said. “It never ceases to amaze me how something good will happen that just keeps me going.” Today, Leventhal is a full-time social studies teacher with Tennessee Connections Academy, an entirely online public school available to in-state students. His pay and benefits mirror those earned in brick-and-mortar schools, and he teaches from Knoxville, a crucial point for Leventhal because his daughter and her mother live locally.
I really can’t underestimate how helpful and timely the emergency funding was, as well as the Career Development Center.
– David Leventhal
Leventhal took a circuitous route to his current role. Following his undergraduate degree in philosophy and religious studies earned at Appalachian State University in 2001, he completed a master’s degree in history at UT in 2007. After graduation, he operated a restaurant marketing and delivery business for five years before moving into the information technology sector. He’s also been a banjo and ukulele instructor and taught history at the university and community college levels. Now as a high school teacher, Leventhal brings all those skills to bear in his social studies instruction. With a bright future as an educator ahead of him, Leventhal is grateful for the emergency scholarship and career support he received during an extremely complicated time.
“My work with a K–12 virtual public education academy has helped me grow as an educator and build my resume while also earning the same compensation as my brick-and-mortar colleagues,” Leventhal said. “I am forever indebted to the University of Tennessee and its donors, in more ways than I could ever quantify. It’s great to be a Tennessee Vol!”
Join UT Knoxville’s efforts to address the immediate needs of students experiencing hardship as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and social distancing.
