Jacob Hitehi@jacobhite.com

About

The long way round to a classroom

Nobody sets out at twenty-two to become a teacher at fifty. Here is how it actually happened.

I lived in many states growing up, but call Colorado my home state.

I graduated from UC, Boulder in 1999 and got my BS in Computer Science and have been working as a software engineer ever since, including at Amazon and Google.

I'm an avid traveler and made my way to SE Asia in 2011 where I have spent the majority of my time during the past 15 years.

I earned my CELTA English Teaching Certification in Chiang Mai, Thailand and have done some volunteer teaching, but am ready to take teaching to the next level.

At this point in my career I'm pivoting from coding to teaching software engineering, both at international schools in SE Asia and online, and boosting my teaching skills with the 9-month Moreland University Teach-Now program.

The code I write lives on GitHub, including the source for this site.

Jacob Hite, smiling at the camera in a black polo shirt, seated against a concrete wall.
Me, these days.
A room of children seated on the floor of a wooden schoolhouse in South East Asia, with two adults teaching at the front.
Volunteer teaching in South East Asia.
Three people grinning with their arms in the air in an open-plan office.
The other half of the story: 27 years of this.

The route

One thing after another

  1. Growing up

    Many states, one home

    Moved around a lot as a kid. Colorado is the one that stuck.

  2. 1999

    BS Computer Science, CU Boulder

    The formal part of the education.

  3. 1999 — 2026

    Software engineer at Amazon and Google

    27 years of shipping things at real scale, and of learning what actually breaks in production.

  4. 2011

    Moved to South East Asia

    Where most of the last fifteen years have been spent.

  5. 2011

    CELTA certification, Chiang Mai

    English teaching certification, plus volunteer teaching, the first real evidence that this was the direction.

  6. 2026

    Moreland University, TEACH-NOW

    Teacher certification, and the switch from writing code to teaching software engineering at international schools and online.

Jacob Hite, mid-laugh, turned slightly away from the camera.

Say hello

The fastest way to reach me is email. Questions about lessons, coaching, or the curriculum all land in the same inbox.

Email mehi@jacobhite.com