If you are a extroverted scientist and enjoy people, what meaningful work do you do? For me, it’s education. Perhaps it is my thirst for knowledge, my yearn to learn, but I have always enjoyed being a student. I love learning about the world, and plan to never stop.

As I discovered, scientific research is a great way to learn more and expand human knowledge. And it is fascinating to be the first person to discover something. However, I realized that I get far more excited about sharing that knowledge with others! And so, a career in teaching was begot. Since then, my teaching has taken me around the globe and getting to know the most awesome people.

The thing about pedagogy is it’s personal. You have to meld for each student, you have to think on your feet. It employs my creative, artistic side. Teaching also utilizes my love of people. And my job, as a Georgetown Professor, is to bolster the next generation to become their best selves, help them see themselves as scientists, and prepare them for the life ahead.

There are four main ways I do this:

I help my students achieve higher levels of thinking.

I challenge my students.

I maintain approachability.

I adapt my teaching in a student-centered manner.

After six years of teaching full time, I am still loving what I do as an Associate (!!) Professor in Biology at Georgetown. And this is still just the beginning, there’s always more to learn!

---

“The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What an educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.”

Paulo Freire