Noyce Scholar Profile
Laura Juarez
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 6-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Texas Tech University
Current academic or teaching status:
Senior
School and school district:
n/a
Background:
I was born and raised in Ira, TX. I have three younger sisters. My high school graduation class had a total of 19 people.
Why do you want to teach:
I want to teach math because it’s a subject most students struggle with and the thing that made the difference in my life was my teacher. I hope to be the teacher in my students’ lives who makes a difference when it comes to math.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
Last summer I worked with the “Summer Science: It’s a Girl’s Thing” program at Texas Tech where I led a camp for middle school girls. The girls who I had in my class had not picked math as the class they wanted to join so they were not too excited about it. After the couple of days we spent together, the girls were really enjoying math and thanked me for helping them see the fun in math. It was nice to hear that I could make a difference in such a short time, and it makes me anxious to see what I can do in a classroom.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has been a great program that has offered so much valuable information about being in the classroom and mentoring among other topics. It has also provided me with a group of people who have been where I will be soon and can offer help and guidance.
