matter of time.

Emrys Vladimirovich Sudayev was born into a working-class Russian-Jewish family in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the first-born child of Vladimir and Katerina Sudayev, a restaurant chef and a social worker, respectively. His father was a stone-cold, unaffectionate man, often leaving a young Emrys to care for his siblings while he was out at clubs and parties when not at work—often with heavy amounts of drugs and alcohol involved—and with his mother working odd hours, Emrys felt that he had to grow up quicker than his peers, which took a toll on his mental health as well.  This went on for years, up until they were about 15. It was at that point when Vladimir admitted to having an affair with one of his co-workers, that he’d been hiding for several years—and, after admitting this, he fully abandoned the family and moved to Moscow. At this revelation, their parents divorced, with Katerina gaining full custody of the children, and the family (sans Vladimir) immigrated to America not long after, settling in Manhattan, where Emrys and his siblings began attending school and settling into their new lives. Summers were still spent—albeit very awkwardly—with their father in Moscow, but arriving in America had really become the family’s rite of passage. It was only in Manhattan that Emrys really developed a newfound interest in teaching. History in particular had always piqued his interest, and his mind became set on wanting to become a teacher. They moved to Chicago shortly after graduating high school, and attended the University of Chicago on a scholarship, double majoring in history and education. For years after, he split his time teaching in Chicago, and spent his summers in Manhattan with his family—he decided it would be best to avoid contacting his father at all costs. They began student-teaching in a public high school not long after and officially became certified in the fall of 2022. In July 2024, he heard of a job offer in Blue Harbor as a 9th grade history teacher, which he applied and was interviewed for. They weren’t really expecting to get the job, but they did—which led to their arrival in early September.

Cyrus Amani was born on May 1st, 1985 to a young Iranian couple who only wanted the best for their son. When he was 3, they relocated to Toronto, Canada, for Cyrus (and later, his two younger siblings) to have better opportunities. His father worked part-time as a volunteer firefighter, which inspired Cyrus’ interest in helping people. Of course, being a firefighter seemed overwhelming, but the idea of working in the medical field piqued his curiosity. While he had many hobbies growing up, medical work had always been his top interest. He would spend hours researching the field and all the different career paths on end, and his family was incredibly encouraging whenever he brought the topic up. After high school, Cyrus attended university in Toronto, though he was less fortunate when it came to applying for medical school. He decided to attend school in America after some thinking, and after several acceptances, he narrowed down his list of possible states before deciding on Chicago. He completed his five-year general residency program in the city and began his three-year Cardiothoracic program there as well. Halfway through his second year in the program, he received a phone call that nearly changed the course of his life. His father had been critically injured due to an accidental fall, and things weren’t looking so good. Cyrus rushed home to Toronto to say goodbye and was especially devastated due to his father being his top role model in life. From there, his mental health plummeted immensely, with official diagnoses of prolonged grief disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression. He stayed with his mother and siblings in Canada for a little while before returning to Chicago—his only reason for the return was that his mother persuaded him to pursue his dreams. He agreed to head back and settled into a small apartment. After several months of training, he officially became licensed in 2019 and started work almost immediately. In 2022, he adopted a golden retriever puppy named Charlie to help take his mind off of his stress (and to have company). He later trained Charlie to become his psychiatric service dog when she was old enough. After a while, he realized the big city life just wasn’t for him any longer. In late 2023, he packed up his things (and Charlie) and moved about an hour and a half away to Blue Harbor in hopes of simultaneously managing his grief and starting anew.