1. What was your college major? Did you always want to be a teacher?

My college major was Chemistry.  I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree from Fitchburg State College.  I then went to UMass Dartmouth for my Masters Degree in Chemistry.  My thesis topic focused on The Denitrofication in the Arabian sea and the Eastern Tropical North Pacific Ocean.

I had wanted to be an elementary teacher when I was in high school.  I originally went to college for this but when I got into the classroom I realized I did not like it.  I was surprised when I got a job teaching Chemistry at Wareham High School that I really enjoyed it.  By the end of that first year I decided to make teaching Chemistry my career. 

2. What has been your favorite part of teaching at Somerset Berkley?

The best part of teaching here is our students.  The kids here are, for the most part, kind, compassionate, accepting of differences.  That has been my experience in my classroom. 

3. What are your top hobbies or interests when not teaching?

I have a lot of interests and hobbies outside of school. I belong to a book club, I love to garden and can have my produce to use in the winter.  I make my own spaghetti sauce, salsa, pickles, and my freeze kale and eggplant.  I also golf in a golf league and enjoy going to the gym to lift weights and do yoga.  Additionally, I love hiking, camping, and traveling, especially to Disney. 

4. If you could meet any famous or historical person, dead or alive, who would you choose to meet? What would you talk to them about?

This is hard, I would love to have a final conversation with my Vovoa. She was such a strong woman and our family’s matriarch. I have family questions I would like to know more about.  However, my favorite historical figure that I’d like to talk to is Eleanor Roosevelt.  She, like my Vovoa, survived the great depression, and was a strong woman throughout her adult life, especially taking care of and supporting a disabled husband who then became President of the United States in 1933.  I’d love to talk to her about her experiences and life lessons. 

5. If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to star as you?

Sandra Bullock – I love her body of work.

6. If one day you were to win the lottery, what would you do with the money?

My mother always told me if I came into a lot of money one day to put it aside for 6 months – 1 year to make rational decisions about it and not spend it rashly.  However, I would definitely pay off my bills, my kids bills, put money aside for the grandchildren’s education, set up a scholarship fund for students at SBRHS, and travel.  Most people might say they’d quit their job, I love what I do so I’d most likely keep teaching until I retire. 

7. If you were hypothetically a professional athlete or motivational speaker, what would your “walk-out” song be?

I have no idea.  I am definitely not a professional athlete and I don’t consider myself a motivational speaker but I love the song “Revolutionary” by Josh Wilson.  It speaks about how people have different opinions on a variety of topics but why can’t we simply accept each other, call a truce, and be kind to one another.  One of the questions in the song asks “Why does kindness seem revolutionary?”