Noyce Scholarship

Question: What is your vision for your future math classroom you will be responsible for after Noyce?

Answer: My vision for my future classroom is one where students feel the freedom to learn. Many people feel anxious or frustrated with mathematics, and I want my future students to be able to explore and learn while minimizing the amount of pressure to complete problems in a certain way or in a certain amount of time.

Question: You’re outstanding, why are you wanting to teach?

Answer: I want to teach because I know that adolescence can be a hard time for a lot of students. I want to be a safe, supportive mentor to my students that need it. As a teacher, I plan to maintain high expectations for every student of mine so that students that are typically turned away or discouraged from mathematics get a shot to succeed in math-centered fields.

Question: What is your vision for your future math classroom you will be responsible for after Noyce?

Answer: My vision for my future classroom, in short, is to have a classroom full of math thinkers and not just math doers. To have students that are open to explore mathematically and see that math is for everyone!

Question: You’re outstanding, why are you wanting to teach?

Answer: I love math! And I want to be able to extend that love to the next generation. One of my biggest desires is to impact our future thinkers and world changers and what better way to do that than to teach them!

Question: What is your vision for your future math classroom you will be responsible for after Noyce?

Answer: My vision for my future math classroom is one that, first and foremost, prioritizes the needs and safety of my students. In my class, students will not fear exploration and will instead dive into discovery activities. Students will gain positive experiences that improve any negative feelings that they may have come in with. In my class, students will not question why they are learning these concepts because they will be making connections to the world around them; students will view math as a toolbox for thinking, growing, and problem-solving. It will be a space where the students feel comfortable coming together as a community to collaborate with each other. Finally, my class will ensure that everyone has a voice and is treated like a valuable contributor.

Question: You’re outstanding, why are you wanting to teach?

Answer: There are two main reasons that I want to teach. First, I have always wanted to do something that will directly help people. As I reflected, I realized that I would not be where I am now without the support of my family and teachers. I always did fairly well in math and I know that this is an area that often poses a barrier for people in education, so I knew then that I wanted to be a math teacher. The second reason is that I want to be the representation that I never really had. Throughout my K-12 school years and undergraduate experience, it was rare to see students who looked like me and even rarer to see my identity reflected in my instructors. I think having that representation would have allowed me to be more confident in math. I want to be the representation for students that allows them to feel as though they belong.

Question: What is your vision for the Math classroom you will be responsible for after Noyce?

Answer: Math captivated my interest early on, with every new concept lighting a spark in me as I pushed the limits of what I could do with the math I knew. My goal in my future math classroom is to help every student find that spark in their own mathematics experience: to encourage the students who have already found theirs to keep moving forward, to reignite it in the students who have had theirs dimmed from previous experiences, and to show those who haven’t found theirs yet the beauty in the mathematics that is all around us, even in the most unexpected places. Current math education does a disservice to our students in more ways than can be written here and while I alone cannot fix an entire system, it only takes one teacher to change a student’s life.

Question: You’re outstanding, why teach?

Answer: The math classroom was always a second home for me growing up; as a queer autistic person it was the one place I knew I belonged even when I never seemed to fit anywhere else. I want to be able to provide that second home for any student who needs it and make sure my students know that they are capable of anything they set their minds to.

Question: What is your vision for your future math classroom you will be responsible for after Noyce?

Answer: In my future classroom I hope to create an environment where all students feel they can learn and succeed in math. My vision is that students can walk in and know this is a place where they can ask questions and explore and see that math can be fun! 

Question: You’re outstanding, why are you wanting toteach?

Answer: Throughout my life I have been truly impacted by the teachers I am surrounded by. I have been fortunate enough to come from a family of several teachers that have helped me realize my true passion for teaching as well. Every day I get to see the impact they make on their students’ lives and their dedication to them. Being a teacher is not always easy, but seeing the change they make in others’ lives is inspiring. Growing up I have always had a passion to help others. As I got through highschool and going through college I also realized my passion for mathematics. Many students believe they are simply not “math people”. I hope to change this mindset and students excited about learning math.

Question: What is your vision for your future math classroom you will be responsible for after Noyce?

Answer: High school is all about self-discovery and learning how to interact with other people. I want students to come to class every day, ready to participate, engage, build off one another, but most importantly foster a safe learning environment. I want my students to look beyond the numbers and understand the implications they can bring. I want my students to reflect later in life and state that my class was the one that changed them for the better. Thus, my goal for my future math classroom is to create a group of learners dedicated towards community and self-improvement.

Question: You’re outstanding, why are you wanting to teach?

Answer: First and foremost, I want to teach students because I want to inspire them towards whatever goal they want to reach for. Every student we interact with has an infinite amount of potential to change the world. I want to help guide them towards wherever their passions lead them.

Secondly, math has always been something I’ve been passionate about. There are times where we just state the facts, 1 will always equal 1. Yet there are also times where we can go off the deep-end of theoretical math, like how objects in a 4-D space exist in hyperbolic geometry. I want to inspire students to see the beautiful duality of math and strive to learn as much as they can.

Question: What is your vision for your future math classroom you will be responsible for after Noyce?

Answer: I always knew I wanted to have a safe learning environment where my students felt like they could practice and learn mathematics without being judged in their learning process. However, I never knew how to put that into words until I read Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Francis Su. “A community helps us normalize struggle, and realize “I’m not alone in my struggle.”” This is the type of culture I want my classroom to have.

Question: You’re outstanding, why are you wanting to teach?

Answer: It has been a dream of mine to be able to give back, what was given to me by teachers. All throughout high school I’ve had teachers who supported and challenged me to be better. My love for math led me to become an engineer. But my passion to provide support for students led me to becoming a teacher.