For Stephen Kooshian, the path to becoming a Swing Sub took a few twists and turns. Though he’d been drawn to teaching since high school, he had two other careers before substitute teaching.

Prior to teaching, Stephen worked in a traditional office job environment and also ran a small business, but he felt that he didn’t have the ownership and freedom over his professional life that he craved.

“I worked different corporate jobs, but it just never did it for me,” said the Los Angeles-area resident. “I was always looking at the clock.”

After a number of unsatisfying years in a corporate environment, Stephen turned back to the idea of teaching, starting out by volunteering with the Boys & Girls Club while he was running his business.  When volunteering led to substitute teaching, Stephen was finally in his element.

“I loved it. I had complete control over my schedule,” he said.

No more 6:00 a.m. calls

Substitute teaching with Swing Education allowed Stephen the flexibility to teach when he wanted, enabling him to balance being a business owner and starting a family.

“I have a business-owner mentality and didn’t want a direct manager per se,” said Kooshian. “With business and family responsibilities, I wanted to be able to pick when and where I worked. If I had another commitment, I didn’t want to feel bad if I had to say ‘no’ to a teaching assignment.”

“As much as possible, I also wanted to have a set schedule and to avoid getting early-morning, day-of calls asking me to work,” he added.

Freedom to pick and choose assignments

Over the last three-plus years, Stephen has completed numerous teaching assignments at both public and charter schools in the area, and particularly likes the control that working with Swing provides.

“I can pick my assignments ahead of time,” he said. “With a three-year-old at home, this is so important for my family and really allows us to maintain our morning routine. I don’t have to worry about getting a call at 6:00 a.m. asking me to work and then scrambling to get everyone ready and off to where they need to be in time.”

“With Swing, I already know what days I’m working, what school I’ll be at, and what grade I am teaching,” Kooshian explained. “Having all of this knowledge ahead of time is so much more conducive to leading a calm lifestyle that meets the needs of my family.”

Now, as Kooshian pursues his graduate studies at California State University, Long Beach, the flexibility that Swing Education provides will be even more valuable.

“I still have the opportunity to work with students, which I’m passionate about, yet there’s no pressure to work if my schedule is already busy with school, work, or family commitments,” he said. “I have complete control over my schedule and can easily manage assignments via the Swing app. I love it.”