After graduation, I found out quickly that there
were no jobs to be found in the geology field. As a result, I worked
for two years as a combination sales engineer/marketing manager for a marketing
company near my parents' home. The company sold industrial controls
which would require pages to describe. It had all of the hints of
a dead end job, so I knew that it was time to move on.
 I
decided to go back to school to become a science teacher. I had saved
enough money up to cover all my bills for a year of schooling. I
attended SUNY New Paltz and received my New York State teaching
certificates in earth science, chemistry, and general science. (I completed
the requirements for my physics certification one year later.) After
having studied for years in the hard sciences, I found the preparation
for becoming a teacher incredibly easy.
I somehow went on only one interview and ended up as an earth science teacher at Chatham High School in upstate New York. Three years later I switched to teaching physics, although I still get the occassional earth science class. That's me jumping up on the lab table in my classroom on the left. It's been twelve years now, and I have no intention of moving on at this point. |