Theater teacher Randy Durren, Perry’s own faculty member who connects with his students, has been in their shoestring one point.

After growing up in Oregon, he had a coming-of-age moment, as if from a movie. He spent his adolescent days with zero desire to go to college, and a steady job at an edgy retail store, however, it all lead up to a downfall with some bad life choices.

Like most teen and young adults, Durren saw no point in attending school. Ironic, since now he spends everyday teaching hundreds of students.

“English who cares, math..numbers! , no thank you!”

“Eventually ended up sleeping in my truck, and I was like, I really need to do something different with my life” that’s the time Duren decided to move to Arizona and attend Arizona State University.

“I was like, I’m gonna go to college! and I super sucked at college right at first”

Durren ended up graduating and becoming a marketing director, not something you would picture him presuming. However he hated it, he wasn’t passionate about it.

“I would hit snooze on my alarm three times a morning… ‘God, I hate today, because today is a go-to-work day.’ Eventually I was let go”

He later decided to do something he loves and went back to school. After starting as a theater teacher he finally pursued to teach theater.

“Loved it then again said, I wanna know more” and continued to get another masters degree in technical theater.

Many situations influenced his choice to move to Arizona with his “hot” girlfriend. After his boss one day offered him a place to clean up and stay, he knew it was time for a change.

“If my appearance is starting to suggest that I’m homeless, I really need to reevaluate my life”

Interesting enough, however, through all those jobs, schooling and life re-evaluating, he DJ’ed for over 10 years. It was a hobby he not only enjoyed but made money off of.

He turned down the opportunity to do it full time though after so many years and now receives it for family parties and such. It’s hilarious to think of Durren as a party boy DJ, spinning and aggressively fist-pumping, but it was more of a wedding planner position.

“I used like software to DJ…Mouse click, mouse click, oh look I just beat mixed…because I hit the beat mic button’.

Nowadays, Durren wakes up excited to go work each day, sometimes even before his alarm. With a touching grin Durren explained, “so even though I might make less money, we aren’t gonna talk about it. I really enjoy what I do and that’s half the battle”.