academic history:
Intellectually,
I've
been productive because
God made me intelligent (*) and I work hard. But
professionally,
I've followed a "road less traveled" instead of the typical academic
path. What
happened? As
a
chemistry
major,
I
enjoyed learning and did well
(getting the American Chemical Society's "best student" award
for all high schools of Orange County, CA, and then for undergrads at U.C. Irvine)
and
received
a
fellowship
for graduate study from the National
Science Foundation. But for various reasons — mainly academic immaturity
(playing too much and not studying enough) and an
incomplete mental awakening (I had discovered creativity but not discipline
and commitment) and an intellectual preference for generalization (instead
of the specialization expected in grad school and in science) — I decided
not
to
pursue
a career in research chemistry. {* this has allowed academic awards
and fellowships,
800s
in
GRE for Math & Verbal,...}
After leaving school, I traveled
and worked and played, along with lots of reading and thinking, and developed
a passion for expressing ideas through writing. I enrolled
in the History of Science program at the University of Wisconsin, but never
felt like a historian; during our first semester a fellow grad
student began a sentence, "We historians think that...", and my
internal response was "what an interesting concept, WE historians." But
since high school I had been teaching, and thinking about the process
of thinking, so when I entered the Science Education program at UW the concept
of "we educators" struck a resonant chord — it felt natural
and intellectually stimulating, and has provided the freedom and flexibility
to pursue my continuing generalist interests.
teaching experience: in
classes (mostly chemistry and physics, plus learning
skills, tennis, juggling, music improvising
& theory, ballroom dancing) and summer "chemistry
camps" and
by tutoring (in physics, chemistry, and calculus);
special interests in education: helping students learn thinking skills (generating
& evaluating ideas,...) and the methods used for problem solving in science & design; visual representations of ideas, and teaching scientific
concepts; relationships
between science and religion;
favorite movie: It's
a Wonderful
Life, partly for its artistic value (plot, dialogue, acting,...) but mainly
for
the message: Each of us affects
other
people,
and
life
is
better
if
we
affect
others
in a way that is beneficial
for them.
spiritual foundation: I'm a Christian,
and my overall goal is to love and trust God more fully so I can "live
by
faith" in
a way that is beneficial for me and for others.
I have mixed feelings about the results of my road less traveled.
Intellectually, I've been highly productive.
Professionally, I haven't followed the standard path. The result of this combination is that, despite
developing lots of great ideas in a wide range of areas, so far these ideas aren't widely known or used, and my life doesn't summarize well on a curriculum vitae. This is
partly because during the last decade I've focused on writing for the
web — which I think can be (when all things are considered) a superior way to communicate ideas, but
unfortunately it doesn't get much "credit" among scholars — instead
of
writing for
scholarly journals or in books. But a more general explanation is that,
basically, I haven't been a skilled "salesman" for my ideas.
Although the product is strong, the marketing has been weak. My actual intellectual productivity has been high, but the perception of productivity (by others) has been low. This contrast between reality and perception is frustrating, but I think it's temporary, and I have faith that God wants my work to be more widely used and that this will happen, in His timing.
On
most days, when I wake in the morning I'm free to think about ideas that are
wonderfully exciting. I'm
thankful that God has been using me to do full-time volunteer work on a productive ministry
project (a website for Whole-Person Education) that
is very satisfying. To
make money, my "tentmaking" job — which
I've also enjoyed, except when thinking about the valuable time it subtracted from
working on my main vocation — has been teaching chemistry. But it's time for a change. During the first 8 months of 2011 my un-paid "main vocation" was working much more than full-time (by reading & listening, discussing, thinking, and writing) to develop ideas for education. In the near future I hope to get a full-time paid job working cooperatively with other educators to help students learn more effectively, to actualize our ideas (mine and theirs) for improving education, by converting these ideas into action.
