Matthew Hooper
Matthew Hooper I am currently working in a research laboratory at the University of Rhode Island and have had the privilege to work alongside some brilliant people. Despite the fact that I have gained a great deal of knowledge and experience from this work, I feel that passing on what I have learned is still my calling. I gain a great deal of satisfaction from imparting knowledge to a student and feel that good chemistry teachers can be challenging to come by these days. It is difficult to do or see anything in this world that you cannot apply to some form of chemistry. Thus, I believe more people should be aware of how they can apply this subject to their everyday lives. My goals and aspirations for the teaching profession are simple: I know that I will not be the next scientist to create a miracle drug that will cure a deadly disease such as AIDS or cancer, but I still feel that our chances of curing life-threatening illnesses will be greatly improved if we have more young minds interested in the sciences (mainly chemistry). Following my graduation, that will become my profession.

Mitchell Trainor
The first time I can remember that I really knew I wanted to be a teacher was in high school; my high school history teacher allowed me and several of my peers to go into his classroom and teach on several occasions throughout the year. I have also worked at a soccer camp for the last several summers and it has really helped me to realize the effect that a teacher can have on a student, whether it be in a classroom or in an athletic situation. At the soccer camp I was a counselor for ages 6-16 years old, and the children at the camp really made me realize how much I love working with children. I couldn't imagine ever working in a career that I wasn't helping kids. These two activities inspired me to become a teacher because I really love working with children. I also decided on becoming a chemistry teacher because my high school chemistry teacher encouraged me to become the person I am today and made chemistry very interesting to me. Also several of my family members are or were in a chemistry career and have always inspired me to pursue a career in chemistry.