My name is Valerie Maureen Nichols and I was born in Escondido, CA in December 1986. When I was three, my family moved to Aguanga, CA so that my younger sister and I would have lots of room run around. Some people might recognize Anza instead of Aguanga, but they are back to back about 20 miles northeast of Temecula, CA… in the middle of nowhere. J I went to Cottonwood in Aguanga for k – 8 then to Hamilton in Anza for high school. After that I entered Cal State San Marcos as a freshman chemistry major and was lucky enough to thoroughly enjoy my major ever since. I have plans to go to grad school for my doctorate in chemistry after I start m family, since pregos are discouraged in chem labs (and no I’m not pregnant, I want to spend 6-8 years in grad school but don’t want to start my family when I’m 30+). So in the meantime, I’m going to teach high school science and math!
I guess I am definitely a part of the technology-native generation! While it may take my mom or grandma a month to figure out a cell phone, my sister and I know to play around and explore it to find out everything it can do. I am currently very much so a PC person and Macs used to frustrate me but I’m getting much better. I depend on technology very much, even too much. I feel weird without my cell phone in plain view and am upset when I’m out of service. J I think that’s something that a lot of people my age experience and it may not be the best for us. Since I have a PC I use the newer version of Office and it does cause endless problems in most of my classrooms with compatibility between myself and the professor or other students. I’ve witnessed frustration among some of my professors first hand with the transition. I think I can tell that I’m getting older since I have to take a little time adjusting to the newest trends in technology when I’m comfortable with something else, for example, my sister and I prefer myspace over facebook. Oh well!
When reading the COE Mission Statement, the segment about life-long learning and innovative research is what stands out the most to me because I truly believe that the more educated an individual is, the more understanding and capable they are of exemplifying diversity and social justice. Science is, to me (not to some older folks in the scientific community) very diverse and even without language to discriminate. You can’t change the meaning of a number or a symbol and people of all sorts and sizes make incredible discoveries enjoyed by the scientific community as a whole, and usually without too much bias.
Hi Nicole, I can definitely can relate to being overly dependent on a cell phone. If I ever forget my phone at home or cannot use it for some reason I feel so out of the loop. I think that you constantly have to be updated on new technology, because I otherwise you can fall behind. I have had my younger brother, who is 13 years old, teach me how to use a Playstation and other things. It is so weird. It sounds like you have many plans... I want to wish you the best of luck in all that you do.
ReplyDeleteHey Val, I didn't know they won't let pregnant women inside of labs. I guess it makes sense with all the chemicals and such. Very interesting though.
ReplyDeleteYou should read Thomas Kuhn's, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," to see how past ideology determines current thought in science.
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