(June 11, 2010) -- For 48 years, English teacher, football coach and Peace Corps Volunteer Paul Burghdorf has been learning about human nature. From his time as a teacher at the University of Serwidjaja in Indonesia during his stint in the Peace Corps to his multiple teaching and coaching jobs, Burghdorf has used education as a way to further his understanding of people.

Burghdorf, who played semi-pro football in the 1950s, got his first teaching gig as a football coach at Pasadena Academy, and, despite a losing season, found his inspiration in educating young people—and has made it his passion. "I think if a teacher isn’t animated and doesn’t have a passion for the subject they’re teaching, the kids are going to catch that real quickly," Burghdorf said. "I put my lesson plan on my board, so I know where I’m heading, but there’s no script."

The same thing could be said about his career, which, over its 48 year span, led him to teach and coach at several different schools in the Glendale area and Indonesia.

The summer following the 1965 Watts Riots, Burghdorf and his wife, who had both returned from Scotland, began teaching multicultural programs at the University of California Riverside —putting together people of different races and backgrounds in special dorms for several days and teaching them of the race problems going on in Los Angeles at the time. "It helped me to understand human nature, because I’ve lived in so many different places, and why people are doing what they’re doing."

Burghdorf recalls situations where he has surprised and shocked students and strangers alike with his language abilities. "I’ve taught in schools where some of the kids were Indonesian, and I could speak to them in Indonesian, and they’d be blown out of the water that a Caucasian could speak their language," Burghdorf said. He also remembers a situation where he busted out some Swahili with a group of seemingly-menacing kids in Pasadena, who had coincidentally just returned from a Swahili class, and had a great times.

Burghdorf believes that while we might not be prejudiced today, we might be prejudiced tomorrow, or some other time in the future. "Every person has to fight that battle," said Burghdorf. "We’re all prejudiced, it’s part of the human makeup."

After he retires, Burghdorf plans on finishing a book he has been writing about his Peace Corps experience, while continuing to travel. "I could live in many different places in the world and enjoy it," Burghdorf said. "I love the world."