Nine years ago this spring, I was at a turning point in my life. I had just finished my freshman year of college at Fort Hays State University. I was fairly confident I would marry my high school sweetheart (I did!) and we would return to his hometown and farm after college. I had just changed majors from physics to biology. Engineering, meteorology, medicine, agronomy – all fields I had an interest in, but wasn’t sure where to turn or what to do. I was growing more and more concerned about paying for my education as many of the local scholarships I had received covered only the first year of school, and the university scholarships would pay a portion of my education, but not all.

I hadn’t given teaching much thought until I came across the Noyce Teacher Leader Program, a program which still exists at Fort Hays, and which you can find information about at this link here: https://www.fhsu.edu/smei/noyce/. It is not an exaggeration to say that this program changed my life.

I spent the next year college preparing to enter this program, and I was accepted. I still wasn’t sure about teaching at this time, but since I had made the decision, I dedicated myself to learning as much about teaching I could, and to be the best teacher possible. Knowing I would come back to a small community, I knew that finding quality teachers can sometimes be difficult, yet I wanted my students to have access to the best possible education.

After graduation, I began teaching. I continued to be supported by faculty involved with the Noyce Scholarship Program at Fort Hays, not only through emails and phone calls, but also through quality workshops offered through the university, often with attached stipends as well.

Over the past several years, I have been able to network with incredible math and science teachers as well as policy leaders in education. The biggest surprise and absolute honor however, came this past spring when I was notified that I was nominated by a former professor to speak on the Voices from the Field panel at the 2023 Noyce Summit, Transforming Teacher Preparation and Retention: A Focus on Equity, Research, and Innovative Strategies held in Washington D.C. in June with expenses covered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science! I cannot wait to bring attention to and represent rural STEM education in front of such a diverse audience.

I am totally grateful for this opportunity, and also want to let it encourage many others. It does not matter where you grow up, or where you choose to live that determines your ability to make a difference. What does matter is your choice to make the best of and work hard with the circumstances you are given.

I plan to continue blogging about my experience this summer in Washington D.C. Follow me on social media, or join my email list to keep updated with whenever I post.