History and human motivation have been intricately intertwined, in much the same way that Professor Julie Johnson's love of education and the pursuit of higher knowledge are. For someone like her, the most critical aspect of examining History is not looking for life lessons embedded in the past, but rather finding ways to connect centuries-old stories and events to meaningful real-world applications --  a goal that many of her students can attest.

Johnson started as a Musical Theater major, which she describes as a natural segue into History, which she later studied before achieving her Master's in American History from the University of Alaska. At the moment, Johnson is currently working towards her P.h.D. in  American History from Claremont Graduate University.

She started her educational career right here in Santa Clarita many years ago, teaching at Valencia High School and later moving to a charter school to teach History and, gradually, becoming the principal. Johnson joined COC's team as a full-time faculty member back in 2017, and she's never once looked back. 

"Education just enveloped me from the beginning," she says. "I always knew I wanted to focus on history, so it's great that I get to do what I love every single day."

In her free time, Johnson splits her time between reading historical fiction and nonfiction, which goes hand in hand with her desire to enhance her students' educational journeys alongside her own. In addition to her P.h.D. dissertation, Johnson has been working on two screenplays she hopes to finish soon, which she emphasizes as a goal of honing her writing skills and improving them as much as possible.

For her, the essential aspect of her job involves "converting" students into avid fans of History, and the rewards of her career as a professor are especially fruitful when she hears that she's influenced the future of her students.

"Every semester, I'm amazed by the connections that my students can make between the past and the present," she shares. "The best part is when a former student comes and tells me that they're majoring in History because of me. I want them to come away from my classes, sharing my same love of History."

When she's not working on improving her classes or working on her writing, she's busy filling the role of a proud mother and wife -- her husband, two kids, and their two dogs are her whole life, and she can often be found on the bleachers of her son's baseball games at Hart. And when she's not out cheering him on, she's at home indulging in classic movies (as is the life of a old-time movie buff like her).

Johnson never forgets her roots, though -- alongside her daughter, she makes sure to stretch her musical theater muscle now and then, paying homage to a passion of hers that undoubtedly played a role in her history.

"History becomes so meaningful when you can connect early events to the modern-day," she says, speaking both about her professional and personal lives. "Everything comes to life when you see how interconnected everything is."