I had several amazing science teachers in high school who surely helped foster my passion for science. Admittedly, I've been a science nerd scince I was very young. My mom reminded me that I was impossible to potty train- not because I couldn't, but because I wouldn't. When I started getting "too old" to not be potty trained, my dad bribed me. With science videos. Literally, a set of 6 video tapes that were about science related topics. I watched Mr. Wizard on TV when I was in pre-school and loved it. I grew up on Beakman's world and Bill Nye the Science Guy. I was heartbroken when Bill Nye's show stopped airing. My Uncle sent me books on medicine and the body, and I would read through them over, and over, and over.
In Elementary and middle school, I was talented in math. I just "got" it without much work. Science was a little harder- I had to work harder at it, but that didn't mean that I didn't love it. I still spent my time outside of class reading about medicine and other science-related stuff.
In High school, though, I think is where I really began to grasp science, and also why exactly it is that I love science. And I had three amazing instructors who taught me more than I learned in any other class, even in college. It certainly helped that the classes were small, but the passion for teaching and science that these three had was incredible. Mrs. H was my biology teacher, Mr. C was my physics teacher, and Dr. A was my chemistry teacher. I took the introductory class and I also took the AP class from each of these teachers (exept Mrs. H- I made the mistake of NOT entering the honor's science classes as a freshman, and didn't benefit from 2 years with Mrs. H!).
Anyway, these teachers were incredible. When I got to chemistry as a sophomore, I fell in love. It was this amazing combination of math, science, and "why"- I finally got to understand more about the world around me and use the knowledge I had to really understand the answers to the questions I was asking about life and the body, and why things worked the way they did. Dr. A spent countless hours with me during lunches, during off-periods, after school answering my questions and helping me get a better understanding of the material in chemistry. He encouraged us to expand our own education through reading (well, he bribed us with extra credit points for each book we read, and most of us "needed" it- perhaps it was just a ploy to get us to read!). I will say that I read a number of books outside of class for that extra credit, but learned an amazing amount. The books were all science-related, but were often more focused on art in science, ethics, or some other big-picture concept.
As a junior, I had the opportunity to pick a class to take. I took AP Chemistry. Most of the juniors who opted to take an AP science class took biology. It was supposedly easier. But I took AP Chem. I loved the material, and I loved the instructor. He sparked my interest in science. Even though I ended up in biology as a major, my first science class that I really LOVED was chemistry.
A few weeks ago, I was teaching my own students about pH, acid-base balance, and buffer systems in the body. And as I was talking about Henderson and Hasselbach, I heard his voice in the back of my head,"pH is the negative log of the concentration of hydrogen ions." When I took the MCAT a month ago, I heard, "M, delta T, C sub P" for the heat transfer equation. Dr. A's deep voice is literaly burned into my brain.
I'm rambling. That tends to happen when I'm emotional.
Dr. A went into cardiac arrest while teaching a class yesterday morning (yeah, on a saturday morning). He was transported and pronounced at a local hospital.
So what Im trying to say is that an amazing teacher who inspired me to really dig deep into science died yesterday. I'm sad, and bummed, that he's gone. He wasn't just an inspiration to me, he was an inspiration to many.
RIP Dr. A. I won't stop teaching and living what you taught me. Thanks for everything
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