Hello! My name is Amanda Renee Schieber. I'm a 24-year-old MAT student at Willamette University. I also attended Willamette as an undergrad, and I have a BA in Biology. After I graduate, my goal is to teach biology at the high school level. I find biology to be absolutely fascinating. Think about it. Do you know how to fight off a disease, heal a wound, or convert food into energy? Probably not. These processes are hugely complex, but the good news is, you don't have to know how to do any of that, because your body does it for you! Not only those, but countless other extremely complex processes and reactions are taking place inside you right now. All of your various parts and systems are fitting together, working in perfect harmony to keep you alive and functioning, with almost no help from your conscious mind. Beyond the scope of the human body, consider the fact that all life on earth, in all its variety and wonder, started from microscopic single-celled organisms, and those started from something that wasn't even alive at all! Okay, I hope I've blown your mind a bit, so I'll move on to some other information about myself.
I was born and raised in Clackamas, Oregon, about an hour North of Salem. I have one younger brother, an undergrad in Washington. I attended Clackamas High School where I participated in marching band (we sucked. bad.) and dance team (we got 2nd in the state three out of the four years I attended). Despite the relative success of my dance team, I much preferred the company of the marching band members. In college I joined Delta Gamma sorority, and I have many wonderful memories of that experience. After graduating from college, I spent two years teaching English at the elementary and junior high school level in Japan. That was a tremendous growing and learning experience for me which ultimately confirmed and solidified my desire to become a teacher. My other interests include reading, travel and experiencing other cultures, cooking, and silly Japanese pop music.
I wish there was a good word in English to say this, but since there's not...
Yoroshiku!!
PS. I kept a blog of my experiences in Japan HERE if you're interested
Biology, like many fields of study, is growing and changing at such a rapid rate. I remember when DNA began to be talked about, and how the biology teacher introduced the new unit by stating "we're going to be doing a little detective work to see who killed the butcher." She laid out the DNA evidence and the kids were really stoked.
ReplyDeleteAlso, looked at the wonderful pics on your Japanese blog. Thanks for sharing.