College From a Teacher's Perspective

February 20, 2026 - Kiloh Elliott (11)

Every high school student knows the question, “What do you want to do in the future?” all too well. It can be extremely stressful for many students as they try to balance school and extracurricular activities, and, on top of that, figure out their answer to that daunting question. Oftentimes, with the intense workload we encounter, we students get so frustrated with our teachers that we forget they were once in our shoes too. I had the pleasure of interviewing our very own Mr. Cutonilli, who teaches Earth and Environmental Science and Astronomy here at Hough, to hear his story of how he chose his life's path.

As a former student of Mr. Cutonilli’s, I can attest to the fact that he is a great teacher who truly cares about his job. But did he always want to be a teacher? I asked him that very question, and he told me, “No, I fell into teaching. When I went to college, I initially thought of being an engineer, and after about two weeks, I knew that was not for me. I kinda wandered a bit aimlessly for a couple of semesters until I just decided to follow what I enjoyed and ended up getting a geoscience degree. After not getting a job I really liked, I went back to college to do some graduate school work, where an old professor asked if I was interested in being a Teaching Assistant for Astronomy.”

A huge problem for many people, not just high schoolers, is staying motivated to get out of bed each day and keep going. I asked Mr. Cutonilli how he stays motivated, and he answered, “What motivates me is enjoying my time. Whether it be spending time with my wife and kids, sitting back and watching a Bills or Sabres game, or going outside and spending a night imaging the night sky, everything else I have to do (the slog of life) I do so that I can enjoy my time doing what I like. So why make the slog of life a slog? Do what you enjoy, and you'll never work a day in your life.” While this was lovely to hear, I also wondered whether he was still as motivated when he was a high school student. To that, he said, “I was not a very good student; I was lazy. I used to joke at the time that I should have written a book called ‘How to do absolutely nothing and still get by in school’. It was only when I went to college that I wished that I had applied myself more and learned to understand math in particular better, as it would have opened more doors for me.”

As I previously mentioned, Mr. Cutonilli teaches Earth and Environmental Science and Astronomy. That raises the question: What made him realize he wanted to study science? When asked, he told me, “I have always enjoyed science since I can remember. My earliest memories are of watching the Apollo astronauts walk on the moon, and my older brother building model rockets and flying them. I thought that was so cool, and I wanted to do that.” After hearing this, I knew he had always had a passion for astronomy, and I wanted to know more about it. I asked him for more details, and he explained to me, “We had a World Book Encyclopedia set at home, and I was always looking through all the books on astronomy stuff, space and space exploration, as well as stuff about the Earth and weather. My dad fostered that interest by getting me a small telescope, and I thought it was so cool when I could see the belts and zones on Jupiter, Saturn's rings, and even Halley's comet. It became a part of me.”

I concluded my interview with Mr. Cutonilli by asking what message he has for the students of Hough High School. He answered with, “Be yourself. Follow your heart or whatever it is you enjoy doing. Never be afraid to put yourself out there and take chances; it's how you will get noticed and find out who you really are and what you like to do. ‘Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.’”