What happens to the people who shaped you — after the bell rings?
catchiNG Up is a reflective podcast where educator Peter Ng reconnects with former students, colleagues, and friends to explore who they were, who they're becoming, and what they've learned along the way.
Because learning doesn't stop when the bell rings.
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Former Timber Creek A&P student Izaiah Burgos joins Peter for a second conversation after the first recording was lost to file corruption. Izaiah is now a large- and small-carnivore animal care keeper on the West Coast, and his path there took him from a pre-med track that never felt right, through a zookeeping internship in Sarasota, to jobs in Arizona and California.
Five years into zookeeping, Izaiah talks openly about imposter syndrome, burnout, and the frustration of advocating for animals that can’t speak for themselves. He also explains why he’s ready for what comes next. Peter shares his own early teaching years, when he had one foot out the door and felt like he wasn’t living up to expectations.
The conversation also moves into bigger questions: whether hunting can be a form of conservation, what carrying capacity looks like when humans have already reshaped the land, whether zoos should exist at all, and why Izaiah thinks no one should keep a fox as a pet, no matter how cute they are. Izaiah also shares a few of the quotes he lives by, including the one this episode is named after.
Growth isn’t always linear, and sometimes staying where you are hurts more than risking moving on.
Follow @The_catchinguppodcast on Instagram for clips every Friday and new episodes every Wednesday.
30 Sept 2026
Episode 27 – Crossing the White Sausage Equator
This week I'm catching up with Marius Tesch, whom his students know as Mr. Tesch. He's a Timber Creek history teacher and musician, and one of the first teachers I met when I walked into that building as a long-term sub. Marius just wrapped Season 1 of his new podcast, Tesch Talks European History, a story-driven series built for his AP European History students (and any history buff).
We look back at how we met, when a second-year teacher lectured 70 freshmen at a time in the media center to keep a class from falling apart. Marius shares what teaching his five-year-old daughter piano has taught him about the invisible struggles of learning. He also explains why Germany's cultural North–South divide is known as the "white sausage equator." Then we trace his path from East Berlin to Colonial High School, UCF, and back to Berlin for graduate school, where he built courses from scratch and once ended up holding an original Beethoven score in white gloves.
We also get into why teaching isn't about holding up a bar for students to jump, how technology should be a tool and not a crutch, and the advice he'd give his younger self about finding a way to get your foot in the door.
🎧 Find Tesch Talks European History wherever you get your podcasts.
📲 Follow @The_catchinguppodcast on Instagram for clips every Friday and new episodes every Wednesday.
Because growth isn't always linear
23 Sept 2026
Episode 26 – Plot Twists & Page-Turners
Peter reconnects with former Timber Creek student Kamila Palermo. She took his virtual class in 2021 and recently graduated from UCF with a degree in English Creative Writing, a minor in Mass Media, and a certificate in Publishing & Editing.
Kamila shares how an unexpected advising curveball changed her major halfway through college. She also talks about her work as the social media specialist and event planner at Barnes & Noble on Colonial, where she coordinates author signings and works with publishing and DC Comics reps. Plus, she recounts her trip to BookCon in New York City and meeting the author who got her into romance.
Along the way, they cover:
How romance became one of the fastest-growing genres in books
Audiobook speeds and reading three books at once in three formats
Why new books always release on Tuesdays
Carnival, samba schools, and growing up in Brazilian schools vs. American ones
What she'd tell her 15-year-old self
Chasing a career as a book publicist in New York, and redefining growth once the checkboxes are gone
Her closing advice: if you think you hate reading, you just haven't found the right book yet.
Growth isn't always linear.
Chapters
00:00 – Welcome & catching up
03:08 – Switching majors at UCF
05:07 – Barnes & Noble, author events & DC Comics
07:27 – BookCon in NYC
09:34 – Meeting a favorite author
11:25 – The rise of romance
15:17 – Audiobook speeds & reading in three formats
20:29 – Something I learned today
26:50 – School in Brazil vs. the U.S.
31:21 – High school memories
40:33 – Advice to her 15/16-year-old self
44:49 – What's next: publishing & New York
48:40 – Defining growth
52:58 – Final thoughts
📲 Follow on Instagram: @The_catchinguppodcast
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New episodes every Wednesday, clips every Friday
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5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
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