As I sit here, moments away from leaving my fellowship in the Natural Science Museum, I can’t help but think of how refreshed I feel and how grateful I am. Numerous times today I shared that I finally feel as if I have had an authentic interaction with science. For me, that is huge. It’s huge because I haven’t always had the best relationship with science. In school, I thought science class was trying to decipher a textbook, and many times I didn’t understand it.
But, here I am, typing this post in a research lab. I’m surrounded by microscopes, autoclaves, pipettes, and petri dishes. I look through the glass windows and see dinosaur bones and glowing fish and a giant double helix model of DNA. What an authentic, hands-on experience!
I’ve gained so much that it’s hard to feel like I’m giving much back. But, then I remember this feeling that I am starting to have about science is the same feeling that my students should be having in the classroom. I guess the most authentic way that I can say thank you to my favorite scientist, Dr. Julia Stevens, is by creating excitement and joy for learning in my classroom. She has given me the ability to give my students the power to be anything that they want to be. They have the opportunity to help her with research that will further inspect the DNA of microbes. This research will show the diversity of microbes and where they have been located. By analyzing this data, students will be able to link the vast research of many scientists all over the world!
I never got to be a part of something so unique and so important when I was in school, but my students will have that opportunity. They don’t have to wait until they “grow up” to make a difference.
So, thank you Dr. Julia Stevens for giving me the opportunity to show my students how big the world is and what an exciting place it is!