Noyce Scholar Profile
Samantha Tulloch
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Secondary Math Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
New York University
Current academic or teaching status:
Graduate Student
School and school district:
NYU-Opportunity Programs Department (Building Excellence in Science and Technology Program /HS initiative)
Background:
Born and raised in Brooklyn, I am a child of Caribbean immigrants. I graduated from Polytechnic Institute of NYU with a BS in mathematics and minor in electrical engineering. I have been working with high school students since my undergraduate years to present. I hope to become a high school math teacher and to continue helping students. Currently, I am student teaching 9th grade algebra at Lower Manhattan Arts Academy.
Why do you want to teach:
After attending an engineering school, I realized that I didn’t want to be an engineer; at least not one in the traditional sense. I wanted to engineer the young minds of tomorrow, ensuring that the future would be ready for their tasks.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
One of my most memorable teaching experiences was tutoring a friend of mine. This was his freshman year of college, and he was taking pre-calculus. One day during a session, I reviewed what we studied the day before. He forgot everything and was becoming frustrated with the problems. While re-teaching the steps, I realized that he has ADHD. This provided a challenge for me, especially since he failed pre-calculus once before. Eventually he would pass the exam, but that experience showed me to be patient and willing to repeat multiple times. I even learned that sometimes one approach isn’t always going to work, so try another one. After that experience, I only wanted to become a teacher more.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
For me, the NOYCE program means the opportunity to impact children’s lives. This program allows me to pursue my goal of becoming a high school math teacher and to show students that STEM fields are not that hard to reach, as long as they have access. NOYCE helps me provide that access to young students.
