Social studies teachers William Funk and Adam Schwartz have a friendship like no other. From meeting at Frostburg State University in 1992, to Funk being Schwartz’s best man at his wedding, they’re an iconic duo casually roaming around The Mill.
Their friendship blossomed at FSU where both were majoring in the history/social studies realm. Having many classes together, a natural relationship formed.
“When I met Mr. Schwartz, he introduced me to a lot of different types of music, stuff that I had never listened to before, particularly reggae music. I asked him if he could make me a reggae mixtape,” said Funk.
Over time, their bond strengthened and they stuck by each other post-university. As to why, “Mr. Schwartz is [a solid] person. The [kind] you can talk to and they give you real, deep, and meaningful answers,” said Funk.
“We click. Mr. Funk always makes me laugh, always sees the fun side of everything, and I’m a worrier. It’s nice to have somebody to constantly talk me off the ledge,” said Schwartz.
Sharing the bits of wisdom that Funk so deeply admires, Schwartz said, “In high school, you have a lot of acquaintances. In adulthood, you’re lucky to find a few really good friends; Mr. Funk is that somebody.”
Schwartz and Funk are the perfect pair, a classing yin-yang friendship.
When recounting his favorite memory with Funk, Schwartz said “I don’t think it’s one memory. It’s that experience with someone where you laugh so hard you don’t even know what you’re laughing at anymore. We’ve had a lot of those. After a half hour of laughing, you look at each other and go, ‘What were we talking about?'”
Feeling envious yet? Schwartz shares the secret to maintaining this long-lasting relationship through breaking a societal norm: don’t mix friendship with business. “I worked for 10 principals since I’ve [taught at Watkins Mill]. There’s a lot of [change] here and I think we’re a constant, which makes things bearable, makes things good,” said Schwartz.
A friendship is never complete without inside jokes. Funk teases Schwartz with an unknown ‘clam strips’ situation while Schwartz gets back at Funk through their shared ‘stroke guy’ story.
