Hello! I’m Mrs. Szabo and I am so happy to be called a Science teacher! My last name is quite the tongue twister – so all you have to remember is the S is silent.
I graduated from the University of New Mexico with my Bachelor’s degree in Education with a minor in Science and Math. I was a double major in Elementary Education and Biochemistry. GO LOBOS!!
Graduating with honors while my whole family watched was probably the fourth best day of my life! I am a married mother of three. My husband and I have been married for 16 years. We have three children – two boys and a girl. All of them teenagers!
I did not have the privilege of being able to be a “stay-at-home” mom, since I was a working mom. Honestly, what mom is not working? When our daughter was five years old we made the decision that I would return to school to finish obtaining my degree in Biochemistry. I returned to school and figured out along the way that even though I went back with the intention of becoming a Pharmacist my heart was someplace else.
Somewhere between changing an acid to a base my major changed from Pharmacy to Education. It was those cutie pies in my daughter’s kindergarten class that began to tug on that childhood dream of being a teacher. Not to mention my daughter’s teacher constantly telling me I was in the wrong field of study.
I took my passion for Science and Math and decided that instead of counting by 5’s in a pharmacy by myself, I preferred counting by 5’s in a classroom with five year olds or mixing chemicals with pre-teens and teens. Before returning to college I worked with the State of New Mexico for seven years. While going through school I worked part-time at one of the sweetest companies in the world: the Hershey Company. That was a wonderful place for a chocolate lover to work! My journey through life has led me to what my true passion is and each day that I teach I feel so blessed to have found my “calling.”
Aside from being heavily involved with my faith and teaching, I find time for other things. I have played the flute since I was nine years old and I love music. I am a Bronco fan and loved the Saints before they were champs! I was in New Orleans when the “who dat” motto came out. If you’re lucky you may just hear me say “Nawlins” instead of New Orleans. When I am not cheering on the Broncos or Saints, I’m cheering on my children at either track, BMX or dance competitions. My person goal for this upcoming year is to compete in a triathlon and to finish. My professional goal for this year is to change that old mantra “I hate science” to “Science Rocks!”
“A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales. “
Marie Curie
