Q. What aspects of your MCB degree program best helped you prepare for your career?
A. I majored in Immunology and Pathogenesis. My goal was to eventually become a clinical lab scientist. During my time at UC Berkeley, I realized that my passion was in teaching science. I wanted to help students understand science and not be afraid it. My MCB degree helped me understand all the scientific concepts that I would need to teach at the middle school level. I currently teach 6th and 7th grade science, and sometimes I teach it in Spanish. The concepts that we go over that I learned in MCB are the following: Cells, Body systems, Genetics, and the Immune System. Also, Professor Beatty prepared the MCB students by making us work together to solve problems in the lab. This is a skill that I use with my students every day. They need to think about their problems and how to solve them.
Q. How did you decide on your current career path?
A. While I was getting my bachelor's at UC Berkeley, I tutored for my high school. I really enjoyed interacting with students and helping them understand scientific and mathematical concepts. So around my junior year at UC Berkeley, I decided that I wanted to be a science teacher. I wanted to help students understand scientific concepts and realize that science is not scary.
Q. Share your favorite Berkeley lunch place, coffee shop, landmark study spot...etc.
A. I loved going to the Coffee Lab after o-chem classes. It was nice and I liked their aesthetic.