I want to become a physics teacher because I want to teach and show how interesting physics is and how important it is to understanding why the world works the way it does. Physics can be fun to learn and gives us a better understanding of things in our lives. I also want to inspire students like my physics teacher did with me and open up the possibility of a physics major or even a physics education major.

Brandon Urso

I want to be a physics and/or astronomy teacher to inspire kids to wonder and question. I want to encourage students to do what their heart loves while the world discourages it. Thanks to my high school astronomy teacher I learned to wonder again and pursue my interests and I hope to offer that for the next generation of beautiful and complex minds.

Lydia Miller

I want to become a high school physics teacher so that I can present math and physics to students in a way that will be enjoyable to them. I feel that our secondary education system has successfully demonstrated to students what we should learn, but fall short in the areas of how we should learn and why we should learn. If these ideas are more established in our students, I believe wholeheartedly that they will find it easier to learn any subject and might even find it more enjoyable once they have begun to establish purpose to their learning. I hope that I will be able to inspire students to think on a deeper level and appreciate what we have discovered about the universe and ourselves so far and effectively communicate that there is still much more to be discovered.

Alex Farrell

I am planning on becoming a physics teacher because I want to help inspire the next generation of physics students. Too often, students are discouraged from going into physics due to bad experiences in high school. In becoming a teacher, I hope to do my part in changing that to create a more diverse field overall.

Colin Hathaway

My drive for teaching is simple. I want to share my love for science with the world, and I want to reach the scientists of the future no matter what obstacles are put in my way. I remember not being able to do basic arithmetic, and I could not do high school algebra to save my life, let alone anything to do with physics. One day, I had a teacher that showed math and physics in a whole new light, and my dream is to do the same for others. It’s no mystery that there is a negative stigma surrounding physics at the high school level, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I want to convince the future generation to invest in deepening their understanding of physics, and I believe that this is the perfect profession to do just that. There’s no thrill like teaching, especially with such incredible material to learn about. Everyone can be a genius, and I want to do whatever I can to change how future generations think of physics.

Andrew Queenan

I never believed I would have ever wanted to focus on the profession of teaching, nonetheless physics, when I first started going to college, but that certainly has changed now. I began with an interest in biomedical engineering and psychology/psychiatry, but that all changed as I started my major classes for engineering including physics I and II and its labs. I spoke with the LAs in the classrooms and experienced the contributions they had to the Physics labs, and not only did they seem to genuinely be enjoying themselves, but they also helped me genuinely enjoy the labs and the learning experience. At the time I was getting burned out as I really didn’t want to become an engineer and this along other things was just the spark I needed. After that I discussed with Dr. Formica about becoming a LA and changing my major, and the rest is now history. Now I am part of the Physics education program and a LA, and I could not be more excited to make a change in the world of physics education and help students want to learn physics!

Alex Chastain