Social studies teacher Aaron Besser left on medical leave 3 months ago, yet when we met with him recently, he walked into room 205 with a white T-shirt, khaki shorts, and his cheerful familiar presence. 

Besser has been a teacher at Jackson-Reed for seven years. He teaches World History I, Social Justice Issues, and AP Human Geography (HUG), along with being a coach of the ultimate frisbee team and the teacher sponsor of the Jewish Student Union.

We asked Besser if he would sit down with us to talk about how he has been doing and what life has been like not being in the building. 

Three months ago, following February break, Besser began to experience cold-like symptoms.While later playing Dungeons and Dragons, a true Besser activity, he fainted. After being rushed to urgent care and admitted into the emergency room, he was put through a number of tests and scans which revealed a mass in his chest. Within that week, Besser was diagnosed with T-Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“[It’s] being treated with six rounds of just chemo. No radiation, no stem cell therapy, no bone marrow transplants,” said Besser. Each round of treatment lasts three weeks.

After one week of receiving transfusions ( Monday through Friday), he has a two-week rest period. “The second week the side effects can be the worst, so that is when I feel like crap, and then the third week, [I’m] feeling better, more energized.” After those two weeks he goes back to repeat the three-week process. Besser is currently on his fourth round of treatment and should be finished by mid-July.

Through such a strenuous process, Besser has remained true to his character, and while hard times have been inevitable, we can attest to the fact that he still constantly cracks jokes and has a smile on his face. 

“Jackson-Reed High School [has been] very supportive,” Besser said upon reflection. Marc Minsker, Besser’s supervisor, organized class coverage and other details of his leave for him. “Within two days I knew the school [aspect] was going to be fine,” said Besser. 

During his time on leave, Jackson-Reed has come together to support Besser. “The school community has been really amazing,” he explained. Humanities teacher Amanda Chang and the Social Studies department have orchestrated gifts and care packages to be sent to Besser. His sister has also created a website for people to sign up to visit him, an opportunity multiple teachers and students have taken advantage of. He also noted that his frisbee and summer camp communities have been there for him. 

Besser has been able to stay in contact with his friends and family via Instagram where he posts about his treatments and various life updates. He denies allegations of becoming an influencer, but his consistent posting says otherwise. In our humble opinion, we think he could definitely find success and thrive in the field (think about it–those COVID HUG videos he recorded definitely have potential).