By Donovan Macias
macid14@mail.broward.edu
Dr. Jonathan Oneill was born on September 11, 1981. He spent his childhood life in two nations — the United States (his father’s home country) and Guatemala (his mother’s home country) — though he spent his later youth in the United States. He resided in Michigan for middle school and high school and attended university in Florida.
Dr. Oneill came directly from Michigan to Florida in 2002, largely because many of his relatives had made the same move. Before he moved, he had a strong connection to the state, as his grandfather had a home in Boca Raton, and he often came down to visit during vacation periods. While in Florida as a child, he loved to swim in his grandfather’s pool, going to the mall, getting trinkets at local toy stores, and exploring Disney’s parks in Orlando.
Before joining the College Academy program in 2023, he taught at Broward College for many years. He had also been teaching courses at Florida Atlantic University, which is where he earned his Doctorate of Philosophy in Comparative Studies in 2021. At Broward College, he helps lead the Model UN club with his younger brother, Dr. Michael Oneill, and several other activities as well.
While many see him as the bookworm English professor and can easily recognize his cubicle by the mounds of classic novels its bookshelves hold, he has a profound interest in history, which he says he enjoys due to its strong ties to literature. Some of his favorite literary pieces are La Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri, Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis by Ugo Foscolo, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, and the poetry of Jim Carroll. Outside of reading and learning about the past, he has many additional hobbies. He enjoys listening to music, watching movies, going for walks to experience nature, the gym, Italian and Latin culture and food (he says that his favorite food is a pasta dish called amatriciana). “I love eating,” he says.” Furthermore, though he refers to himself as an amateur, he likes to play the guitar.
Dr. Oneill is fluent in three languages — English, Italian, and Spanish. Though he knew English and Spanish through his family, he developed a proficiency in Italian in roughly two years. At Broward College, he oversees the Italian workshop. He stated that he had a strong enough foundation of French “to not starve if I was dropped in the middle of Paris,” but he believes that pronunciation is his weak point; he is also capable of understanding some Latin and Greek texts. His preferred travel destinations are, of course Italy (especially Florence), Ireland, and regions along the Atlantic Coast and the Balkans. In 2015, he went to Macedonia for one week for a friend’s wedding.
There are many people who Dr. Oneill looks up to, including Fred Rogers, Steve Irwin, Neill DeGrasse Tyson, and Rubén Blades. He cites Rogers and Irwin as role models for their kindness, and Tyson and Blades for their intellect.
He shared a bit of advice with students and told of how important it is to keep pushing forth. He explained that although the sole thing he can guarantee is that there will be plenty of hardships and challenges ahead, one will end up precisely where they need to be.
When asked about his prospects, he responded with “teaching.” He described it as a passion and explained that while he dipped his toes into the legal field (he attended law school for one year at Nova Southeastern University), what he truly loves is being able to talk to young people about the topics he obsesses over. This academic year, Dr. Jonathan Oneill looks forward to continuing to do so and says he is excited for all the initiatives and events to come.