Mr. David Samson works in the Technology Center as a PC support specialist. However, he is better known to a select group of Kent students as “overseer.” Officially, he is the advisor of the Student Tech program where a select few students pledge to fix computers as part of the Job Program.

His motto as the advisor to the student tech crew is “the more I teach you, the less I have to do.” Admittedly, it is nothing more than a half-truth; he has no intention of shirking his work. Yet it does represent his goal, which is to create a work environment that is both laid-back and efficient.

Most of the time, the student techs will walk into the Tech Center for their shifts, greet Mr. Samson, and proceed to either doing schoolwork or lounging around and chatting with Mr. Samson and the other student techs in comfortable chairs with drinks in hand.

The atmosphere during the school day or the night shifts is suitable for students to both study or chat, fulfilling Mr. Samson’s goal of “making the tech center a pleasurable work environment.” He is extremely pleased when people who are not techs and are not in dire need of computer help drop by the Technology Center to have a conversation and hang out, since they are testament to the fact that the Technology Center has become a pleasant place for them. As fun as the tech center sounds, though, the students and faculty will drop whatever they’re doing to help anyone in need of it.

The ‘pleasurable work environment’ brings the most pleasure to not the student techs but Mr. Samson himself. “I love my job,” he says. “When I signed up for this job I was told that a piece of my job was to be a parent.” Not only does Mr. Samson get to meet the student techs two hours a week, but also for four years—from their third form year to their sixth form year. To him, the students’ progression is immensely valuable to watch. “I get to be a parent to students from all around the world,” he says, “and that is an amazing opportunity. Go thank your parents for me!”

Student Techs may be recruited starting from their winter term of their freshman year. Every term, student techs are recruited from a waiting list, which a student can apply to by talking to Mr. Samson. And “once you are a techie, you are a techie forever”—the job will stay with the student until he or she graduates.

Aside from being the genial overseer of the student tech program, Mr. Samson is also a PC Support specialist—namely, he keeps all of the computers running for students, faculty, and staff. He fixes workstations and manages all of the workgroups.

He is also an individual with very interesting worldviews, namely the importance of diversity, the need for a natural Yin to the technological Yang, the new fashion trend that is slim ties, and the presence of auras that pervade and influence our lives. He is a certified Social Studies teacher, an avid gardener, cyclist, hiker, canoeist, and cook.

Moreover, he is an important part of the Kent community not only as a staff member but also as a person. “It’s rewarding to fix a computer, but is more rewarding to have a positive influence in a person’s life,” he says. “And I don’t ‘fix’ people because they aren’t broken.”

As many students (both techs and technophobes alike), would attest, Mr. Samson is absolutely irreplaceable.