Q: Before you were a teacher, what was your job?
A: I was a transplant coordinator with the Lion’s Eye Institute for transplant and research.
Q: Could you describe the job?
A: When people pass away who are organ donors, one of the organs that can be transplanted is the cornea which is the clear covering that covers the colored part of your eye. In certain kinds of blindness, it can restore vision by getting that transplant. My job was to check the donors records and make a formal report of whether it was safe to take their tissue for transplant, once there was proper consent. Then I would go wherever the donor was and recover the eye tissue.
Q: What made you pick that career?
A: I had seen a job listing for it and I majored in neuroscience and then I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was also earning my masters in education at the time so I was looking for a full time job.
Q: Was that a job you thought you might do when you were younger?
A: Never.
Q: What kinds of things did you think you might do?
A: When I was younger I was very involved in the arts, so I didn’t know if I would do something with design, but I ended up really enjoying science. I knew I wanted to do something with science but I wasn’t sure what.
Q: Is that why you considered being a teacher?
A: Yes, when I graduated with my degree I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I just sort of fell into science education. When I started doing my masters in that, that’s the route I went with. So I did the transplant job for about a year and I liked it. There were a lot of perks and it was an interesting crazy job, but there were also a lot of long hours too. I worked night shifts from seven at night to seven in the morning, as well as weekends and whenever they called you. But it was a very fun job but difficult to do long term.
Grace Becker// Staff Writer
