What do you want to be when you grow up? I was asked this question so many times in my life, but I never really knew what I wanted my future to look like. I remember a young me thinking about the future, it always seemed so far off and abstract that I never could form a clear picture of mine. My high school graduation was so far off itself, that I didn't need to think about the future. 2024 was a number that was stapled in big bubbly letters on a bulletin board in my third-grade hallway, not a year that I would be living in, graduating high school in, or going to college in. The future has a way of sneaking up on you. I'm not sure when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher or when I decided I wanted to study science, but they were sort of independent discoveries. All I knew was that teaching felt right. I remember when I got to know my freshman-year drama teacher. She had been teaching for a long time and she loved what she did. I wanted to be like her and have a career that I could feel good about and love. I sort of went back and forth about what I wanted to teach, bouncing from history and civics to theater, but nothing felt quite right. I've always thought that if I'm going to dedicate most of my life to something, it better be something that I enjoy. Later in my high school career, I began to fall in love with science. Something about the way it could seemingly explain everything yet always have more to discover was captivating to me. My teachers themselves only helped drive my blossoming love for science. "Biology is life" is something my sophomore-year biology teacher would often say to us. She inspired me to teach science. One time someone asked about her job and she said she couldn't see herself doing anything other than teaching. Soon enough I decided that I should pursue biology in college. Not long after I decided on studying biology I came to another crossroads. What did I want to use my degree to do? I could be a teacher. Once I slowed myself down and thought, I realized that I didn't have to abandon my dream of teaching and doing something I loved, I could do two things that I loved and become a science teacher. Thus that became my dream. I wanted to be like the teachers who had helped propel my fascination and love of science forward and be able to do the same thing for generations of students. I could be the spark that ignited a love for science in someone else, and nothing could be more rewarding than that. As I've gone through high school I've come to realize that this is truly where I see myself. I finally have a clear image of my future, and it's filled with the excitement of sparking a love for science in students and helping guide them to discover their own passions, every day.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I was asked this question so many times in my life, but I never really knew what I wanted my future to look like. I remember a young me thinking about the future, it always seemed so far off and abstract that I never could form a clear picture of mine. My high school graduation was so far off itself, that I didn't need to think about the future. 2024 was a number that was stapled in big bubbly letters on a bulletin board in my third-grade hallway, not a year that I would be living in, graduating high school in, or going to college in. The future has a way of sneaking up on you. I'm not sure when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher or when I decided I wanted to study science, but they were sort of independent discoveries. All I knew was that teaching felt right. I remember when I got to know my freshman-year drama teacher. She had been teaching for a long time and she loved what she did. I wanted to be like her and have a career that I could feel good about and love. I sort of went back and forth about what I wanted to teach, bouncing from history and civics to theater, but nothing felt quite right. I've always thought that if I'm going to dedicate most of my life to something, it better be something that I enjoy. Later in my high school career, I began to fall in love with science. Something about the way it could seemingly explain everything yet always have more to discover was captivating to me. My teachers themselves only helped drive my blossoming love for science. "Biology is life" is something my sophomore-year biology teacher would often say to us. She inspired me to teach science. One time someone asked about her job and she said she couldn't see herself doing anything other than teaching. Soon enough I decided that I should pursue biology in college. Not long after I decided on studying biology I came to another crossroads. What did I want to use my degree to do? I could be a teacher. Once I slowed myself down and thought, I realized that I didn't have to abandon my dream of teaching and doing something I loved, I could do two things that I loved and become a science teacher. Thus that became my dream. I wanted to be like the teachers who had helped propel my fascination and love of science forward and be able to do the same thing for generations of students. I could be the spark that ignited a love for science in someone else, and nothing could be more rewarding than that. As I've gone through high school I've come to realize that this is truly where I see myself. I finally have a clear image of my future, and it's filled with the excitement of sparking a love for science in students and helping guide them to discover their own passions, every day.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I was asked this question so many times in my life, but I never really knew what I wanted my future to look like. I remember a young me thinking about the future, it always seemed so far off and abstract that I never could form a clear picture of mine. My high school graduation was so far off itself, that I didn't need to think about the future. 2024 was a number that was stapled in big bubbly letters on a bulletin board in my third-grade hallway, not a year that I would be living in, graduating high school in, or going to college in. The future has a way of sneaking up on you. I'm not sure when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher or when I decided I wanted to study science, but they were sort of independent discoveries. All I knew was that teaching felt right. I remember when I got to know my freshman-year drama teacher. She had been teaching for a long time and she loved what she did. I wanted to be like her and have a career that I could feel good about and love. I sort of went back and forth about what I wanted to teach, bouncing from history and civics to theater, but nothing felt quite right. I've always thought that if I'm going to dedicate most of my life to something, it better be something that I enjoy. Later in my high school career, I began to fall in love with science. Something about the way it could seemingly explain everything yet always have more to discover was captivating to me. My teachers themselves only helped drive my blossoming love for science. "Biology is life" is something my sophomore-year biology teacher would often say to us. She inspired me to teach science. One time someone asked about her job and she said she couldn't see herself doing anything other than teaching. Soon enough I decided that I should pursue biology in college. Not long after I decided on studying biology I came to another crossroads. What did I want to use my degree to do? I could be a teacher. Once I slowed myself down and thought, I realized that I didn't have to abandon my dream of teaching and doing something I loved, I could do two things that I loved and become a science teacher. Thus that became my dream. I wanted to be like the teachers who had helped propel my fascination and love of science forward and be able to do the same thing for generations of students. I could be the spark that ignited a love for science in someone else, and nothing could be more rewarding than that. As I've gone through high school I've come to realize that this is truly where I see myself. I finally have a clear image of my future, and it's filled with the excitement of sparking a love for science in students and helping guide them to discover their own passions, every day.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I was asked this question so many times in my life, but I never really knew what I wanted my future to look like. I remember a young me thinking about the future, it always seemed so far off and abstract that I never could form a clear picture of mine. My high school graduation was so far off itself, that I didn't need to think about the future. 2024 was a number that was stapled in big bubbly letters on a bulletin board in my third-grade hallway, not a year that I would be living in, graduating high school in, or going to college in. The future has a way of sneaking up on you. I'm not sure when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher or when I decided I wanted to study science, but they were sort of independent discoveries. All I knew was that teaching felt right. I remember when I got to know my freshman-year drama teacher. She had been teaching for a long time and she loved what she did. I wanted to be like her and have a career that I could feel good about and love. I sort of went back and forth about what I wanted to teach, bouncing from history and civics to theater, but nothing felt quite right. I've always thought that if I'm going to dedicate most of my life to something, it better be something that I enjoy. Later in my high school career, I began to fall in love with science. Something about the way it could seemingly explain everything yet always have more to discover was captivating to me. My teachers themselves only helped drive my blossoming love for science. "Biology is life" is something my sophomore-year biology teacher would often say to us. She inspired me to teach science. One time someone asked about her job and she said she couldn't see herself doing anything other than teaching. Soon enough I decided that I should pursue biology in college. Not long after I decided on studying biology I came to another crossroads. What did I want to use my degree to do? I could be a teacher. Once I slowed myself down and thought, I realized that I didn't have to abandon my dream of teaching and doing something I loved, I could do two things that I loved and become a science teacher. Thus that became my dream. I wanted to be like the teachers who had helped propel my fascination and love of science forward and be able to do the same thing for generations of students. I could be the spark that ignited a love for science in someone else, and nothing could be more rewarding than that. As I've gone through high school I've come to realize that this is truly where I see myself. I finally have a clear image of my future, and it's filled with the excitement of sparking a love for science in students and helping guide them to discover their own passions, every day.