Why I Want to Become a Teacher
I believe I did not become interested in science until midway through college. I decided to be a biology major because I thought maybe I would want to go to medical school. Immediately, I found biology classes much more interesting than any science classes I took in high school. I think this was because those college courses often forced me to think critically as opposed to just memorizing facts and vocabulary, which seemed to be more the case in high school. College lectures were interesting, but after all they were still lectures. What made me realize that I loved science was actually practicing the scientific method. At least half of the sciences courses I took involved lab sections. In those labs we would design experiments, collect data, and then write an abstract or sometimes even a full paper on the experiment. Performing experiments was exciting because it involved creativity, problem solving, and (often) cooperation. Also, I was getting to practice the scientific method, a tool that I was just beginning to understand and respect.
Throughout my time as an undergraduate, I went back and forth between deciding that I wanted to go medical school or not. The idea of becoming a teacher flickered here and there but it never took hold of me back then. Eventually, during my senior year, I decided I would apply to medical schools after I graduated. However, it turned out that I needed to take more chemistry and physics classes. While taking classes, I simultaneously started working as a volleyball coach and a "brain trainer". My role as a brain trainer was essentially part tutor, part motivator, and part drill sergeant. I realized though, that I truly only enjoyed the parts where I could provide tutoring and instruction.
I learned a lot about instructing from another volleyball coach I worked with. He did not motivate his players by yelling or enforcing drudgery. Instead, he thought about a skill his players needed to improve upon and then thought how he could improve those skills. To him, being a good coach was not about motivating a player to want to be better; being a good coach was actually making that player better by using instruction. Being a coach, I realized, was probably not all that much different than being a teacher. Both these work experiences have led me to realize that I would love to be a teacher.
In particular I would love to be a science teacher. One of my great concerns is to promote science, and along with it, reason and scrutiny. There is a lot of misinformation in the world: assumptions, lies, manipulations, spin, pseudoscience, hearsay, gossip. I believe that misinformation can be particularly harmful to young people. I want to become a science teacher because I want to teach students to think scientifically. Of course, I want to also teach students all the fun and interesting ideas and facts that science has provided us -- the content in other words. But more importantly, I want to teach the scientific method -- the very idea that made me so excited and passionate about science. It is a concept that when people understand it, they also get excited about science. To think like a scientist, one relies on evidence, data, skepticism, and scrutiny. The scientific method is important because it is a tool, a weapon even, against misinformation.
*Note: The above was initially written by me as part of an essay submitted to Augsburg College as part of the materials required for acceptance.
