Scientific Discourse: A Case Study

As is the case in many of Arkansas’ school districts, science doesn’t always get the emphasis it deserves. Dr. Monica Mobley, a science educator at Southside Charter High School, is a proud, self-proclaimed STEMinist and advocate for science interests of all sorts. Dr. Mobley, whenever I first met her, struck me as a true mad scientist. She seemed totally immersed in the scientific world, and she didn’t focus too much on other’s opinions of her. I learned about five minutes into one of the first AP Biology lectures just how passionate she was about science. Never had I ever imagined that someone could be so enthusiastic about water and its many applications to living organisms. She was practically jumping for joy throughout the whole lecture! I also

recognized that she was a very special educator whenever she got so excited about gravity in a later Chemistry lecture that she threw every object, one by one, off of her desk just to make a point that everything would fall! I had a natural inclination to science before entering her classroom, and she nurtured my interests into passions. She was perfectly willing to talk to me after class about any scientific topic that I wanted to discuss.

My primary career interest at the time being Bioengineering, we had lots to talk about! While she did talk about the wonderful sides of science, she also discussed how it sometimes might not be the most fun or easiest subject. She did assert, however, that a scientific career made for an adventure. I appreciated that she was always honest with me and never sugar coated the pros and cons of a situation or method. She always talked to me as an equal or a colleague, never talking down to me or focusing on my mistakes. I looked up to her as being a brilliant and passionate scientist. I wondered how someone like her could end up teaching at a relatively small school district in rural arkansas. Whenever I asked her one day, she was very happy to talk about her passion for education and teaching those who were willing to learn. She had taught at the college level before, but told me that she preferred high school students because of the impacts that she could make on their lives. At first I regarded this as the cliche response, but as the year went on it became obvious that she really was having an impact on my

life. I excitedly participated in the labs that we got to do in her classes, and I was able to work with equipment I might not otherwise have gotten to use through her advocation for science within the school district. The two classes that I had with her were the highlights of my day. Going into her class I was considering a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), but coming out I knew that science was a passion of mine and that it was how I wanted to make a difference in the world. Dr. Mobley gave me the confidence that I needed to be a woman in STEM (a STEMinist as she loving calls it and is mentioned as above), and was always there to listen to students and help whenever she could. She enabled me to be more comfortable with myself, as a nerd, and to get on track to pursue a degree in science. Not only do I look up to her as a intellectual and role model, but I look up to her as she is someone who was able to turn her biggest passions into a career that she loves. This is what I too hope to achieve in life, no matter what that career may end up being. She has inspired me, as a student, to dream big, work hard, and to never let what others think of you get in the way of your passions.