image source: Michael Fisher, "Good teaching should be like a Pollock painting". Flicker Creative Commons license

Coming out of graduate school, I had a successful career in industry, both in research and management.  By 1998, I had a young family and found myself working 60+ hours per week.  While I was successful professionally, I was not satisfied with how I was doing as a husband and father; something needed to change.

I had always thought of teaching as a viable alternative career for me.  Therefore, in May, 1998, I resigned from Micron and spent a year earning my secondary teaching credentials at the College of Idaho.  I was able to decompress from my previous trajectory and re-discover my family; it was one of the best decisions I ever made.  I student taught at Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, Idaho, and they offered me a full time position teaching chemistry starting in the Fall of 1999.

After 14 years teaching at Bishop Kelly, I made another move and started working as adjunct faculty at Boise State University.  There, I have taught introductory engineering labs (one had a service learning component the students worked on adaptive technology for clients with disabilities) and have worked as both a discussion leader and co-lead faculty in the Foundational Studies Program:  UF100 - Working:  Experiences and Expectations and UF100- Navigating Identity:  Mapping your journey.