My biggest responsibility to the common good and my authentic self is to advocate for an improved natural science curriculum and more equitable resource distribution for schools in the United States.

As an education professional, I have a clear vision in my ethical duties for my community of science learners and teachers: create equal access to high quality and relevant education for all. While the United States is a world leader in many fields, our education system is falling in comparison to many others. After returning to school from the COVID-19 lockdowns, there has been decreased motivation from students with increased monitoring of schools and test scores. Educators are being held accountable for 2 years of lost learning with little direction from administrators and little grace from parents. In my hometown, there has been a 0% raise in school funding coupled with 27% inflationary cost in the past 8 years. Schools are stretching resources thin to meet increased needs, often cutting engaging programs and materials. When levies are presented to increase taxes to support schools, they have failed year after year. Personal interest in saving money has outweighed the common good's need for access to quality education. The US culture is not only laying barriers for future teachers to professionally contribute to the common good, it is discouraging many from the profession entirely. I, myself, have even pursued options in informal education at museums and zoos due to the current pressure on public education. While I intend to return to a formal classroom in the future, I am looking for more ways to connect public schools to the education resources available from private institutions. I will be pursuing a Master’s degree in Changing Education from the University of Helsinki to learn about innovative policies and curriculums bettering the state of science education around the world.

Beyond my profession, my authentic self is a woman that loves her friends and family, enjoys spending time outdoors, and thanks God for every minute she gets to live in this world He created. My authentic self is driven to find a way to connect others to this planet, be it the beautiful, diverse wildlife or the ways we can see His creation, so that we can preserve it for my kids and their kids and their kids' kids to see. I am both in awe of the beauty of various natural landscapes and the creatures that live in them, alongside seeing God's hand in the exactness and intricacies within ecological relationships and chemical structures. Not only is there intrinsic value in the beauty of nature, there is also a quantifiable value of human health related to environmental health. That is why I am so authentically passionate about conserving what we have and helping others forming personal connections to the world around them. I dream of a fulfilling career that makes a mark on our planet, that can also provide a stable living to support an adventurous lifestyle for my family to explore national parks and global wonders. Being a science education policy analyst for the US Department of Education would facilitate these goals perfectly.

Graduating with the content knowledge from my majors in biology and education studies alongside the research and communication skills gained from my liberal arts core curriculum, I am prepared to go out into the world to make meaningful impacts on our education system and our planet.