Noyce Scholar Profile
Isla Porras
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics, Physics, Secondary Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, Physics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Texas at El Paso
Current academic or teaching status:
Junior
School and school district:
El Paso and Ysleta Independent School Districts
Background:
I am an only child, born and raised in El Paso, Texas. My amazing parents have always encouraged me to continue my education and pursue my dreams, despite any obstacles I encounter along the way. I have been lucky in having very inspiring teachers throughout my education, and I associate that with my ongoing success in school. I look forward to what the future holds for me in education because it has played a very important role in my life thus far, and I hope to impact the lives of others through education as well.
Why do you want to teach:
I have always been inspired by the teachers I’ve had. I recall going home when I was younger and pretending to teach my dolls in my bedroom. This was a clear indication to me that teaching is what I’ve always yearned to do. Upon learning new topics or information in school, I was eager to explain it to my friends or my parents just because I wanted to share my excitement with everyone I knew. As time went on, I realized that I was always eager to help my friends in class when they didn’t understand something. I also came to realize that I was eager to help and introduce individuals to new topics I had learned in math more than any other subject. I have now become a math tutor at my university and absolutely love my job because it allows me to teach students different math concepts, but it also reinforces all of the things I already know about math. Both math and teaching are, and always have been, a passion of mine, and I look forward to pursuing a career involving both. I hope to inspire students as much as all of my former teachers have been able to inspire me.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
I encounter many memorable teaching experiences in my current job as a math tutor at my university; for example, something as simple as introducing students to a new formula and the meaning behind using it. When introducing a new topic to students, I am able to see their faces light up at the moment they realize that they understand what we are going over. I like to call this moment an “ah-ha!” moment because it’s the very moment where their diligent work has finally made sense to them, and they realize exactly what it is they are working on and why. One moment stands out to me more than others because I witnessed an excitement in my student’s face that I had never seen before. We were working on solving exponential and logarithmic functions, and after we had reviewed several problems and I had explained them to her, she looked at me and immediately gave me a high-five. After her burst of excitement, she exclaimed, “I did it! I actually get it! Thank you so much for not giving up on me!” This made me feel absolutely phenomenal. Moments like these are exactly why I want to continue to teach for as long as I possibly can.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program means that I have help in achieving all of my dreams. I have always struggled financially, and this program has abolished my struggle to pay the last two years of my college education. This burden lifted off my shoulders has helped me regain my confidence, and I know that I can just focus on completing my education without having to worry about more debt after graduating. The program also means that I have support in the field that I have chosen, and that I am going to gain experience during my last two years of college so that I am better prepared for a future in education. This is a phenomenal program because it has allowed me to confide in students at my university who are pursuing the same career path as I am, it has provided me with financial support, and it will help me find a job within the participating school districts after I graduate. I can’t think of anything that would be more helpful to me at this point in time, so I am very grateful to be a participant in the Noyce Scholarship Program.
