Here is my first blog post, which was posted on May 5, 2014: ” I am so excited to be a part of the 2014-2015 Kenan Fellows Cohort. I am a math teacher with a degree in biology. I am looking forward to implementing the S.T.E.M. Design process within my curriculum.”

This post was almost a year ago and at that time, I never would have dreamed that I would be blogging.  I am extremely introverted and a bit shy. Blogging has allowed me an opportunity to express and my feelings and interact with my fellow Kenan Cohort. I definitely feel that I have grown as a person and educator.

As I have stated in previous blog posts, my summer externship was one of the best experiences of my life. The interaction and collaboration with fellow scientists, staff at the museum, and other educators was invaluable. I know that it was a blessing that I was even chosen as a Kenan Fellow. I felt like a child in a toy store each day of my externship. My mentor were extremely patient with me as I learned many new laboratory techniques. I was really hesitant to work in a laboratory again because I always felt as if I would break something (I am very clumsy). However, my mentors were always comfort ing and helped me to realize that any mistake that I made, they had already made several times before.

I feel as if I am a part of a large family, the Kenan Family. As a child, I sometimes felt as if I never belonged. I was raised in a single-parent household and had five other siblings.  Although, I was a straight A student and received many honors throughout school, I always had the nagging feeling that I was never “good enough”.  This feeling trickled into my adulthood. This Kenan Fellowship has empowered me as an educator. I am no more willing to try new ideas in my classroom. I not only implemented a science curriculum within a math class, but recently invited a Duke scientist to teach my classes. I also feel better equipped to teach and engage my students.

In the fall, I plan to attend an Ecology Conference in Baltimore Maryland. My mentor, Dr. Stevens, submitted a paper on the work we did last summer and this school year.  Our work will be displayed at the conference in August. I am so excited and looking forward to additional opportunities that my Kenan Fellowship will poem up for me. I would like to thank the Kenan Fellows Program, NC State, The Friday Institute, The Science House, all of my mentors, The Museum of Natural Sciences, and everyone associated with my fellowship for making this one of the best years of my life.