Teachers are seen as strict and only here to force information into your head. That is completely off for Ms. Shin. This only being her second year teaching, Ms. Shin is already nominated for teacher of the year for the 2022-2023 school year! But don’t imagine her as a picture perfect teacher that knows everything. She had many obstacles before getting to the point she’s at today.

College had lots of turns for Ms. Shin, with her changing her major 4 times. Ms. Shin first started out by majoring in math, but soon changed it to Pre-Medical. “My professor wrote a problem that went from one wall and wrapped all the way around to another,” Ms. Shin said. “Everyone else in the room just nodded along but I was completely lost.” 

This was a big pushing factor to switch from math to a new major. From Premed, she went into Psychology. She then picked up Social Works but then finally, chose to go back to math.

When she first started her math major, there were many struggles. She still didn’t understand the math she was learning, but she pushed herself to learn it. 

Shin would go to her professors office hours every chance she got. Each day she would go to her teacher, waiting outside his office wanting help. But after a while, he got so annoyed with her coming to his class everyday he just gave her the test questions so she would leave him alone.

After graduating, Ms. Shin was hired to work at Frost Middle School. 

Her first year of teaching was a learning experience for her and her students. “It was a train

wreck,” she described. “I often found myself changing the notes the night before class,” she stated. “I wanted to make sure it was perfect and my students would understand the material I was giving them.”

She second-guessed herself a lot of the time, wanting everything to be perfect for her students. She wanted to be able to support all of them, but that is difficult when there’s over 100.

Ms. Shin has been recognized for her handwork, and is the “Outstanding New Secondary Teacher of the Year, 2022-23”. Woo!

When it comes to teaching, there are always pros and cons; Ms. Shin loves to watch her students grow as a people and with math. It’s very rewarding to her as it shows she is doing a great job at teaching and helping kids understand. But in general, she loves spending time with her students, even when they don’t pay attention or are being disruptive—she enjoys every moment with her students!