Noyce Scholar Profile
Lauren Schnepper
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: B.A., Mathematics
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
Wake Forest University
Current academic or teaching status:
1st year graduate student
School and school district:
Student Teaching, Winston-Salem Forsyth County School District
Background:
I am from Clayton, North Carolina where I attended Clayton High School and graduated as the salutatorian. I then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where I attained my BA in both Mathematics and Spanish. While at UNC I worked as a private tutor, as well as a tutor for the UNC Athletic Department. After graduation, I decided to apply for the Noyce Fellowship in order to attend Wake Forest University and train to become a high school mathematics teacher.
Why do you want to teach:
I would like to teach first and foremost because I love to help people. I have always hoped that I would be able to make a difference in people’s lives through my profession, and teaching seems to be an amazing way to achieve this goal. Being a teacher means having the opportunity to make positive changes in the lives of hundreds of students. Although I know I cannot reach every student, I hope that the result of my teaching career will be a legacy of students who realized their potential because I helped them believe in themselves. Additionally, I want to teach because I love mathematics and I really would love an opportunity to share this passion with others.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
A memorable teaching experience for me was tutoring one of the UNC football players in mathematics. This student had never excelled in mathematics, but this college level mathematics course was the last course he needed to graduate. No one thought that he would be able to pass and the attitude of others had made him doubt himself. Yet, throughout the semester I would tell him that he could do it, and what was more, it was my expectation that he would be able to not just pass, but get at least a B-. I drilled him before tests, and we went over the information together over and over. Then at the end of the year after he had received his grade, he came up to me and gave me a huge hug and revealed to me that he had earned a B in the class. He told me that he could not have done it without my believing in him. That was when I truly knew that teaching was the right profession for me.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has given me the opportunity to become the best teacher that I can be. The program has provided me the opportunity to receive what I believe to be the best training that I possibly could receive. Additionally, the Noyce program has allowed me these opportunities without the financial burden that so frequently accompanies the best education. Without the Noyce program I could not devote my full time to my studies and to becoming an excellent teacher because I would also have to work to support myself.
