Every teacher should have goals for themselves, their classroom, and their
students. These goals give additional purpose to the educational system past the
standard preparation for life after school. These goals help the teacher connect with
their students, encourage their students, and even take a "boring" subject and make it
interesting for every student. Goals and plans help teachers structure their classrooms
and stay “constant students” alongside of their students. These goals are going to be
shaped by what level or topic you are charged with teaching as well as what issues are
in the educational world.
In 2018, I heard about my county’s plan to begin to slowly roll out Dual
Enrollment Courses in our high schools. I began to research what it took to teach a Dual
Enrollment course in Virginia. I learned that a teacher must have a minimum of 18
graduate level credit in the area they want to teach. As a result, I started looking at
graduate programs that would allow me to earn my Masters while teaching. One of my
requirements was that the program be online, which is why I am applying to the online
chemistry Masters Program at Ohio University.
In the fall of 2019, I started at an online Math Masters Program, but quickly
discovered the program was not a good fit in my life. I found that I was struggling to
communicate with my professors. I also struggled with my time management skills. I
remained stubborn thinking I could just stick it out. In the spring of 2021, I finally decided
that for the health of my family, I needed to leave this program. One of the things I
learned in during this two year period was that one needs to know their limits. During
these two years, I learned a lot about math and about my own motivations and
strengths.
Since then, I have taken this experience to improve not only my personal life, but
also my professional life. I have learned to schedule myself, break up my tasks, and
start early in the day or week in order to eliminate rushing when assignments are due.
The biggest thing I realized is that my motivation needed to be based in an area that I
had not only an interest in, but also an area that I had a deeper foundation in. As
interested as I was in math, I found that I did not have a strong enough foundation in the
material. The Bachelor of Science in Chemistry that I have in addition to my continued
reading in chemistry will give me the foundation I need to be more successful in this
Masters Program. In college, I enjoyed my analytical and physical chemistry classes the
most. I did struggle in analytical chemistry; however, even with that struggle I found the
lab work and the data interesting. Learning to read the peaks of the NMR spectroscopy
or planning an experiment to test the amount of a certain vitamin in cereal was a very
engaging challenge. Physical chemistry brought the math that I enjoyed into play. For
the last three years of assisting in teaching Dual Chemistry, I have enjoyed working with
students to help them see all the ways that chemistry applies to their daily lives.
While being able to teach Dual Enrollment chemistry class (as the listed
professor, instead of as a “TA”) is a strong reason for me to get a Masters in Chemistry,
it is not the only reason. While I love teaching at my high school, I recognize that I might
need other career options for the sake of my family. Having a Masters in Chemistry
would allow me to teach at the community college level as well as work in other fields,
like Government contracting or lab work.