Tell us why you became a teacher

I was at a crossroads on what I wanted to do with a Biology degree and I thought deeply about what I loved most about science. In the end I decided I loved the idea of learning about life around me and how the world works through a scientific eye. I wanted to share my love of this learning with students. When I thought back I had fond memories of my school years and the teachers who helped culture my love of science and I wanted to be that role model for other students.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My most memorable moment happens every single year when we start working with Punnett squares. The look of confusion and complete disarray of knowing what is going on to the ah-ha moments of understanding. The students never believe that they will get it but eventually something just clicks and you can see how it all starts to make sense. Moments like these make the job worth it any day.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would take this money to pay off my student loans debt. It was not a cheap experience to become a teacher and this would help me significantly with getting out from under my loan debt that has very high interest rates attached to each loan. With the remaining money I would put into my savings to be able to save up and build a much needed garage.