My WPI Education
WPI
At WPI I completed my degree in Chemical Engineering, with a minor in Materials Science, and a concentration in Environmental. On top of this I pursued the Teacher Prep Program to Teach High School Chemistry, it wasn’t an easy path but it was certainly very fulfilling. I completed the coursework for my degree together with the coursework for teaching.
Furthermore, my favorite things about WPI are its people and spirit, as well as the space it provides to support others and share experiences in various ways. For example, the Global School hosted events focused on projects addressing complex global grand challenges. After the event “Reimagining Borders in Latin(x) America,” where I spoke about my educational trajectory, a WPI librarian contacted me to exhibit my art titled “Transcendental Nature” in the WPI Gordon Library. This exhibit included a series of landscapes from Puerto Rico and other works of art more related to deep aspects of the soul. It’s like a timeline that traces my journey from leaving Puerto Rico to getting adapted to Massachusetts. It portrays my personal experience, identity, and culture – my soul per say. Furthermore, as a Student Philanthropy Ambassador (SPA) for the Division of University Advancement, I share my experiences and thoughts with WPI donors. WPI provides a nurturing environment that facilitates connections and professional/personal growth.
When I first moved to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico, it was initially difficult to find a sense of belonging. I felt a clash of dual identities – feeling like I’m not Hispanic/Latino because I am a citizen of the United States, but also not feeling American because Puerto Rico is not a state and Spanish is my native language. Nevertheless, during my college career, I was very fortunate to find friends that became family and support groups, which helped make WPI my home. I want my prospective student to be able to attend higher education and have similar enriching experiences to those I was very fortunate to have.
https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/community/voices/joelis-velez-diaz
WPI Courses
The overall experience that I acquired at WPI and the courses that I took guided my teaching style. I was accepted into the program during my freshman year, and followed their guidelines as structured in the image below, except I got the chance to go to Thailand for my IQP during Junior Year, hence I completed my Student Teaching as an independent study during my senior year.
Teacher Preparation Program requirements - wpi.edu
Pre-Practicum Experiences
My first pre-practicum experience was doing early fieldwork and community engagement. I completed this working as a STEM facilitator in the Latino Education Institute (LEI) for their Aspire summer program. Through this experience I was able to educate middle school students about STEM topics and scientific tools, as well as engage with them. Then I completed the requirement of teaching STEM in the community in Girls Inc, where we did a lesson on physics and made it engaging by relating it to the season at the time hence it was called spooky science. The students were able to have hands -on experience building their own designs of bridges and applying the physics concepts.
Other Teaching Related Experiences
While studying in college during my sophomore year I continued working at the LEI through the program LASOS (Latina Achievers in Search of Success), where as a facilitator I was able to foster a connection with students of the sixth grade that were also Latinas. Working with LEI supporting the students, helping them believe in themselves, it meant a lot for me. Because it’s important that they can feel empowered and know they can make a difference from an early age. It was very heartwarming to observe how the students related to me and told me I was a role model for them. This was something I was lucky to experience again by working at WPI as a Residential Program Advisor (RPA); when students that were from Puerto Rico or Hispanic background learned that I also was from Puerto Rico they came and talked to me, I would tell them my story and obstacles I faces, then they would leave realizing “wow if she can make it, so can I”. Being an inspiration for others is something I never expected, but something that I am very grateful for; I want to continue helping the younger ones realize their potential, and for them to obtain higher education.
Additionally, for two years in a row, I participated in the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program as a researcher and prospective teacher. I conducted research towards the SDGs and enjoyed the opportunity to translate my research experiences into a high school chemistry lesson plan for teaching integrated STEM. I was able to present this lesson plan already and teach middle school students in the Latino Education Institute STEM EXPO 2023, as a facilitator. Here students were able to conduct an experiment, and it was a very rewarding experience. I will be implementing it into the classroom during my student teaching next semester as well, to provide project-based learning for the students and portray what research is. I look forward to opportunities in motivating the younger generations with STEM education tied to real-world issues.