"I was always aware of the achievement gap because of my father's work. He founded the Center for the Advancement of Hispanics in Science and Engineering Education, which develops programs to channel Latino students into science and engineering careers. As a teenager from El Salvador growing up in San Francisco, my father was statistically unlikely to become an engineer and unlikely to start an organization to help others enter the pipeline.

When I first considered joining Teach For America, my father tried to persuade me not to apply, much to my surprise. He was concerned that teaching wouldn't allow me to represent the Latino community in the engineering sector. He changed his mind when he saw the difference I was making as a first-year corps member, teaching middle school math in a predominantly Latino classroom. He also saw me grow as a person because of the persistence and commitment that teaching requires. My father understood that the experience strengthened my connection to the Latino community.

You're probably aware that we have a shortage of math and science teachers, but there's also a shortage of students who can picture real world applications of math and engineering. As a corps member and engineer, I worked to bridge those gaps. Having the opportunity to share my perspective with my students made a tremendous impact-I had sixth graders who wanted to be mechanical or civil engineers because they could envision how math is used in those professions.

As I led my students to achieve their goals, I was gaining hands-on experience in strategic planning, an essential skill that builds on my problem solving background. After I earned my M.S. in industrial engineering, I wanted to continue to use my capabilities in a meaningful way. In my current position at Kaiser Permanente, I assess our health care systems and reengineer operations to develop interventions that can yield the greatest health improvements for our members with diabetes.

Disproportionately, Latinos have a greater risk of developing diabetes; and over half born after the year 2000 will develop the disease. Our solutions must be designed, tested, refined, and implemented much like a new math curriculum. All the while, I must keep this population in mind-but that's the easy part-I am always thinking about my students and their families.

I have a deeper connection to my work as a result of my Teach For America experience-I'm certain that I wouldn't bring the same level of enthusiasm to my job without the experience. I've learned what it means to feel passionate about my work, I know when it's missing, and I also know how to regain it. My experience with Teach For America confirmed how fulfilling it feels to work towards positive social change."

"Entering Teach For America after graduate school was beneficial to me and the students I taught. I was able to use my graduate school and real world experience in the classroom to bring math concepts to life. After all the work I did while teaching, meeting deadlines for large engineering projects seems almost effortless. Teach For America is garnering such a positive reputation nationwide that my participation in it definitely did not hinder my career progress. During my post-Teach For America job search, people seemed impressed by the program's rigor and the commitment it demanded. Although I started engineering after many of my colleagues, I've nearly ascended to their level in half the time."

"I graduated from an excellent public school near Oakland, California. During college, I spent my summers coaching a swim team as part of Oakland’s youth swim league. As I neared graduation, I was torn about my plans. Although most people around me were headed to graduate school in engineering, I was also considering Teach For America because I had greatly enjoyed working with the kids on my swim team. One of my friends was in her first year as a Teach For America corps member, and though her experiences sounded incredibly challenging, the idea of a national teaching corps really excited me. I decided to defer my graduate school plans and join Teach For America.

I struggled with classroom management my first couple of weeks teaching, but after talking with fellow corps members and learning from the veteran teachers at my school, I set up a system: The students earned "math bucks" for things like being on time, and there was a “math market” where they could buy small items like stickers, pencils, and candy. They responded to this system, and we then moved on to building their mathematics skills. Like any engineer, I’m very comfortable with mathematics, and I worked hard to translate that attitude to my students. What mattered most was that my students had a positive experience in the classroom and were getting better at mathematics.

I found that the organizational skills I learned in Teach For America helped me immeasurably in graduate school. Regardless of my long-term career trajectory, Teach For America also helped me understand my individual capacity to change the society we live in. The experience of Teach For America made me want to use my engineering skills to tangibly improve people’s lives. Prior to beginning to write Mechanics of Biomaterials, I worked as a research scientist at Cambridge Polymer Group, Inc., where I conducted research into medical devices and biomaterials for orthopedics and cardiovascular applications. I hope the advances we see in these areas will help people live longer, more fulfilling lives.

I have made lifelong friends among the corps members, students, and teachers with whom I had the opportunity to work. I’ll always be involved in education in some way. I volunteer as a high-school mentor, and coordinated a program at Cambridge Polymer Group where students visited our laboratory to see the real-world applications of mathematics and science. After my teaching experience, I know that any chance our country has of closing the achievement gap will rest on whether we are each willing to commit our own time and energy to our schools and communities."

"In college, I was inspired by my older brother's experience as a Teach For America corps member. I planned to study some form of science in graduate school, but after seeing the impact my brother had on his students, Teach For America became my first choice for post-college employment.

Initially, the most challenging part of teaching was realizing that not all of my students shared my love of science. To work through their lack of interest, I found out about my students’ motivations and lives outside of class and set fair and consistent classroom policies. This helped me connect with my students on a personal level, so they cared about meeting my expectations even if science wasn't their favorite subject. The nine other Teach For America corps members and alumni at my school were a great resource, offering moral support and concrete strategies for addressing the challenges I faced. After years of studying science, I knew which concepts to prioritize for my students, and it was fun to think up cool experiments to illustrate them. We had explosions, and my students built electromagnets and sundials. One of my students is now a journalist covering science and technology policy, and I think my class helped spark that interest.

My work with Teach For America was viewed in an extremely positive light by graduate schools, and I was accepted to one of the top 10 aerospace programs in the country. Having developed my own lesson plans and curriculum, I knew when my professors were emphasizing essential information. My teaching experience also allowed me to secure teaching assistantships that helped me financially.

Today, I work for a company that produces anatomy teaching tools and surgical simulators for medical schools and residency programs. My aim is to make the computer interface as intuitive as possible so that students can focus on learning. I know from my corps experience that gaining knowledge and gaining skills are two different but equally important areas of science education. I make sure that our simulators both advance students' medical knowledge and allow them to hone their surgical skills.

I remain passionate about education, knowing firsthand the unlimited potential of students in our nation's highest-need schools. One way to unlock this potential is to bring in additional high-quality teachers, especially in mathematics and science, because so many of today’s jobs require knowledge of these fields. Our nation still has a long way to go to achieve educational equity, but through both my Teach For America commitment and my ongoing focus on science education, I am proud to be a part of the movement that will help us get there."