By Fuad Alew ’26
When Jonathan Grady was a kid in central Pennsylvania, the time he spent after school with his friends was not too different then you and I had, maybe a bit of baseball or football. But this time was also sometimes spent playing “teacher,” While most children chalk this up to just playing around, in hindsight, was a rehearsal for his life ahead of him.
“I had one friend, and he always liked to play teacher,” Grady remembered. “We would practice being teachers to one another as little kids! Long story short, I became a teacher, obviously here at Thomas, and he became a music teacher.”
Looking back, Grady sees those afternoons as more than just a game. “Think about the stuff you used to do when you were a little kid,” he tells his students today. “That’s a good clue to what you want to do with your life.”
Grady’s earliest role model was his mother, who taught at his middle school. When time came to start looking for a job, he knew he wanted something more than a part-time role.
“Thomas stood out because they wanted a permanent, full-time professor to teach programming,” he explained. The location of Thomas College also resonated with him. “I grew up in Central PA, which is sort of a place like Maine, sort of out in the middle of nowhere, not much around. A lot of trees and woods, so it wasn’t a big culture shock.”
Early in his career, Grady taught the way he had been taught, which was primarily through long lectures. But after joining Thomas in 2013, he said he’s been competing for attention with phones and laptops. His classes today are structured around exercises, quizzes, and labs, and he also frequently likes to throw a story or some humor in there to keep students engaged. “Part of it is, I like the stuff I teach. So, for me, I think it’s fun. Not everybody thinks it’s fun,” he said. “So, the enthusiasm helps.”
Grady sees himself as less of a lecturer and tries to be more like a coach. “Ideally, you’ll be able to take this even further, know it better than even I do,” he said. “That’s a sign I did something right.” He recalled a student that visited him on Alumni Weekend, “He didn’t always do what I told him,”. Grady said with a chuckle, “but it didn’t matter because he was so interested, he learned so much on his own. That’s how I know I did something right.”
Looking towards the future, Grady expects teaching to keep evolving alongside technology.
Yet, he does remain confident that no machine can ever replace a human. He recalled incident from a couple years back, “Another professor had said to an incoming student—or maybe it was her girlfriend—‘What are you going into?’ She said, ‘Education.’ And he goes, ‘Within five years, you’ll be out of a job!’” Grady chuckled at the memory. “, “I hear administrators would love to get rid of teachers, that would save money, but is that going to be an effective route? For some folks, yeah, but we are still social creatures.” He then added, with a bit of humor, “I’m not worried about losing my job because of AI. I might be a little more worried about losing my job because AI can write code very well—but that’s about it.” What Grady meant by this is that while AI can excel in tasks like programming, it can’t replace the connection, mentorship, and social presence that a real teacher brings.
For Grady, it can all circle back to how he spent his childhood. What started as games in the backyard became a career. At Thomas College, he still plays the same games he was playing as a kid, but now, the stakes are real, and material is a bit more substantial.
This article was originally written for Dr. Lisa Hibl’s EH 250/CO 250 Journalism class in Fall 2025.