It's cliche, but I have really always wanted to be a teacher. I love sharing information about the natural world with my students. Whether it's grossing them out about the intricacies of their digestive system or teaching them about how objects orbit in space, each day is a day to get them hooked on something cool about our universe. Also, science is all about being hands-on creative, innovative, and we're learning new things about our universe all the time so we can keep things fresh.

One of my favorite teaching moments was the first time we inflated frog lungs in class. My 7th grade students were on day two of frog dissection and they had to insert a pipette into the trachea, squeeze the pipette, and get the lungs to inflate. The squeals of delight and the fascination was awesome. It was a great full circle moment from learning about our own respiratory system to watching another creature's lungs inflate. When my students come back to visit, that is often a mentioned moment.

I would do something for my very large family, like a trip together and set aside some money for home improvements we've wanted to make. I have also always wanted to do a professional development trip to bring the knowledge and experiences of those trips back to my students. Perhaps I could tack that into my Hawaii trip!