Little Light of Mine - Kate Abbott

I got to thinking, as one must do for required blog posts, about the impossible and inevitable chain of coincidences that occurred for me to find myself 25 meters below the Pacific Ocean in the bowels of a Chilean coal mine. First, humans discovered fire… and yadda yadda yadda a man named Roberto was born into a coal mining family in Lota, Chile. An undetermined number of years later, I was born to a teacher and computer programmer in Connecticut, USA. Chance, choice, opportunity, and privilege shaped these drastically different lives, and yet today, we met. Of the many reasons to travel, my main motivation is not to get cool Instagram pictures (though it doesn’t hurt), but to glimpse the lives I might have led had I not happened to be…me.

And there are many.

Entering El Chiflon del Diablo- a now-defunct working coal mine turned tourist attraction

Including the life of a Chilean private high school teacher! This past week as I was pushing my way through rowdy high school hallways, there were moments of anxiety that I deftly suppressed and flashbacks to my own awkward high school experience. There were also moments of clarifying joy as we interacted with our host teachers and realized scientists are fascinating and fun people no matter the country. And I’m definitely not biased…

Science selfie with the objectively coolest host teachers

One-on-one teacher time with my host teacher gave me good insights on the similarities and differences between the educational systems in Chile and the States. They train in their discipline (i.e., Chemistry) at the same time as pedagogical training, and he feels that this doesn’t allow them to both maintain a firm grasp on the subject matter and gain the necessary skills to control a classroom of 17-year-olds. This was evident when I sat in on the lectures for 11^th and 12^th grades, in which teaching occurred for all of 15 minutes before the class deteriorated into a study hall of sorts, with kids eating, teaching me Chilean insults, and even leaving the room altogether. I think there may be a good medium between this and the restrictive, authoritative classroom climate of the States, but I will leave it to someone else to find. This experience already confirmed my suspicions that I 100% absolutely never ever want to teach in a high school. Best laid plans, I guess, since I have to teach a total of 4 classes next week. My teacher commissioned me to prepare lectures vaguely relating to my research on the carbon cycle in the ocean, to be taught in English to grades 6-11. I think the biggest challenge will be targeting the appropriate difficulty of content, but the pressure is lessened with the knowledge that most students won’t understand me anyway. 

Students listening to my lecture on plankton with rapt attention (so I tell myself)

Apart from the students and teachers, I’ve loved meeting the other LSU students in the program. We all have different personalities that drive our skill sets and passions, and I’m so glad there are adept and caring teachers in my midst. I am equally glad to be a researcher and scientist, and not a high school educator! Immersed in research and writing, I rarely step back and consider the academic system I’ve grown from. This program has reminded me of the teachers that led me, disappointed me, and inspired me, and it has tested my skills in communication and classroom engagement. These are useful skills in any discipline, and I hope they will serve to make me a better scientist.