Melissa Teicher, TAC, High School Mathematics

Facts:

Melissa Teicher was born and raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey, where she completed high school in a large, suburban public school. She graduated in May from Bryn Mawr College with a Bachelors of Arts in Mathematics and a minor in Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

"When I was a little girl, my favorite thing to do was to administer math tests to my brothers and my friends and reward them for their effort with stickers and stamps. I used to make them sit in rows and listen to the daily math lesson that I would give, but they were not too happy about it. I very quickly realized that I would have to wait a few more years before I had students of my own and not just friends that I bribed into pretending to be my students. When it became time to go to college, I pursued a career in Astronomy, but I quickly changed my major to Mathematics and realized, again, how passionate I felt about teaching. Now that I am finally in a teaching program and working with students on a daily basis, I've realized that I'm following all of my childhood hopes and dreams, and it is the best feeling in the world!"

Inside Scoop:

"The Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy was one of the best experiences I have ever had. It was very challenging, but extremely gratifying. The design of the program allowed me to spend more time each day with the students than I ordinarily would in a regular school day, and this allowed us to create a safe environment that was conducive to maximizing the students' learning."

"Teaching is one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but it is extremely gratifying and even exhilarating."