Three years ago I went back to school, so to speak...it all started with a company email requesting volunteers for the I LOVE Science program, and being a new, energetic employee, I immediately contacted our representative to volunteer. It sounded easy enough--volunteer to go into a fifth grade classroom and teach a science lesson once a month with the lesson provided, idiot proof right? I certainly had no idea what I was getting myself into and was more than a little nervous thinking about teaching a class of twenty-five fifth graders. Thoughts raced through my mind: What would they ask me? Would they laugh at me? What if I did not know the answer? What if my experiment went wrong? What did I know about science anyway, much less teaching?
I swallowed the butterflies in the pit of my stomach and knew I could get through it...I thought about why I wanted to do this. I thought about my science teacher, Mrs. Kay, and her constant reminder: “sounds like a science experiment to me;” I thought about what I gained from her fearless attitude and love of teaching and in that instant I knew I could do it. I channeled years of competing in science fairs (geeky, huh?) and countless hours of experimenting and went in and taught my first class, and you know, it was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. It was FUN and today, three years, eight classes and lots of laughter and learning later, I would not trade my experience for the world.
I love the program and hope that many others take the chance to volunteer. Channel your passions and think like a fifth grader and think about how you can relate everyday life to science. You don't have to be a perfect scientist but you do have to have the perfect passion. I LOVE Science!
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