Hometown: I was born in a small town in Texas. It was actually so small that the hospital was in the next town over! When I was five I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, which is where I grew up, went to school, and completed my undergraduate degree. I consider myself a Vegas native.
Current Program: Master of Arts in Teaching, secondary Biology
Undergraduate Concentration/Major: After high school, I initially pursued a nursing degree. When I started working in healthcare while I was in school, I realized that healthcare was not the right environment for me and decided to go back to school for something else. I always loved biology, and I had taken microbiology during my time working towards nursing, so I entered UNLV (University of Nevada Las Vegas) as a microbiology major, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology.
Favorite Spot on Campus: Wherever the free food is, or the basement of the Sci Li
When did you know you wanted to become a teacher?
I was tutoring during my entire undergraduate career, but that was one-on-one and never urged me to consider teaching. After I got involved in research, I fell into a teaching assistant position in the new UNLV branch of the HHMI SEA-PHAGES program, an undergraduate research methods course in which undergrads have a chance to contribute to a citizen science project coordinated by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. It is this position which really made me think about teaching. I enjoyed my time working and building relationships with students and watching that "ah-ha" moment when a concept finally clicked. This was the start of my journey.
What drew you to the MAT program and to Brown?
It was during my time working in the SEA-PHAGES program I got a recruitment email from the MAT program. Unlike many other recruitment emails from Master's programs, I found myself going back to this email over and over again, unable to delete it. It was then that I started really considering whether my life should be spent in a lab or a classroom setting. Being a science teacher, I get to have both. The question then became, "Who do I want to teach?" To answer that question, I looked into the process of becoming faculty at a university. The focus of university faculty is on research, but I still wanted to teach relatively advanced material. What really won me over to the high school level was the relationships I will get to form with students, which are sometimes impossible in a lecture hall of 170 students.
When I was applying for graduate programs, I still hadn't made my decision. So I applied to both PhD and MAT programs. I thought, "Let's see where I get in?" Then I got into both programs. That was when I really needed to make a decision. After a lot of deliberation, I looked at all the factors and realized that I would rather teach at a high school level than a college level. That's what brought me here.
What are your plans for after graduation?
Well I have kids, so the most important thing is to get a job, but I'm also getting my Chemistry certification so I have some job choice. I would really like to work with first generation college bound students who are hardworking and driven. I truly believe that education equality and hard work are a vehicle to success for disadvantaged groups. As a first generation college graduate myself, I want to help students with limited support prepare to navigate the uncertain and often frightening environment of college. As far as life plans, I will be staying in the Rhode Island urban core, and trying to get kids more excited in STEM.
— interview by Kevin Madoian MAT'20