Tell us why you became a teacher

I started pre-vet because honestly, I did not want to teach like my mom. My dad left when I was ten, I was the oldest of three. She struggled to pay the bills and was always working. After the first semester, I felt as though I needed to change my major to teaching. When I was in high school I tutored other students and I loved it. Who was I kidding I thought? So I switched to teaching and didn’t look back.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I was teaching 7th grade math. I was a science teacher turned math teacher and told my students it’s impossible to do one without the other. This girl told me her mom and dad were both terrible so it was her destiny. I kept telling her that she could, and that just because her parents were not good at math doesn’t mean she was destined to be that way. At the end of the year, when she pulled off a high A, she sat in my room with tears and her eyes and said oh my gosh, I did it Mrs. Lujan!

What would you do with the $25,000?

To start, I would pay off my masters degree. Then my car so that my husband and I could buy him the truck he has always dreamt of driving. A Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD 2500 or a GMC Sierra 2500 HD Denali. My husband has always driven a junker so I can drive a nice car to tote our son around, but now our son has his own truck - a 1998 Chevy Silverado.