This year Nazareth has the pleasure of welcoming Ms. Glanz to the science department. I had a delightful chat with her about her career and the joys of science. We both come from Hallahan and are excited to join the Nazareth community.

1. What classes do you teach?

I teach biology for freshmen, and I also teach the anatomy and physiology elective.

2. How did you end up as a teacher?

It was not the most straightforward process ever. I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist for a solid eight years…I took all of the crazy science classes. I was supposed to do this program at Jefferson, where I did three years of undergrad. I then went right into medical school to get a physical therapy degree….and science got really hard. 400 level science classes actually get really hard, so they didn’t go that great. I think maybe physical therapy is not the path that I should be taking. It’s a lot of work, and as much as I like the idea of being a physical therapist, I determined that I am not the kind of person who would like to put in all the effort to become a physical therapist. So I spent some time figuring out what do I do now, and I had a couple of people tell me, “Oh, you could be like Mrs. Averil,” who was my AP Bio teacher, “Oh, you could be like Mr. Holland,” who was my physics teacher—both of them were spectacular. And I thought, “Oh yes!” this would be very much fun to be like Mrs. Averil, so I started looking at ways I could be a certified teacher.

3. That’s a long journey with a lot of readjustments. Do you have any advice for us high school students making big decisions about our futures?

Take your time; really think about it. But at the same time, it’s okay to change your mind. You don’t have to know what you want to do as a senior in high school. Going to college as an undecided major is totally acceptable. Going into college for a math degree and then changing your mind and going for a psychology degree is totally okay. Being in your teens and your twenties is the time where you’re figuring things out.

4. Would you explain to us your connection to the String Band Association?

My boyfriend is in Greater Kensington String Band, and because he is in Greater Kensington, I am associated with them. If they need someone to show up and be an extra body, I have been an extra body in costume for a parade before; I have been a martial moving props on New Year’s Day before; I have also now been roped into helping with their Women’s Auxiliary Association. It’s an adventure; they’re very interesting people.

5. What is your favorite material to teach, and is it the same as your favorite material to learn? How is the experience of teaching different from the experience of learning?

I really enjoyed learning about Bio. I love genetics; the Punnett square stuff, I always thought, was really fun, and getting into DNA. It’s different teaching it than learning it because when you’re learning it, you’re like, “oh my goodness, this is so cool!..” but when you’re teaching it, you have to make everyone else that excited about it.

6. Why do you value science education?

Most recently, and this goes in a weird personal direction, trying to decide which version of the COVID vaccine to get, I had to use a lot of what I’d learned in my various science experiences to make that decision…Because I have a science background, I was able to understand those [scientific articles]. I think it’s important to have some science education, so when things like the COVID pandemic come up…even if it’s just a vague understanding from like 10 years ago in high school, you’ve at least heard the words before, so it’s a little less scary-sounding.

This article originally appeared in the October 2021 edition of The Nazareth, Volume XCIIII, No. 1.