Three college graduates agreed teaching in low-income areas with the Teach for America program has been the most intense and rewarding experience they ever had.
The two UA alumni and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus encouraged students to join the organization at last night's meeting in the Student Union Memorial Center.
Teach for America is a program open to college graduates of all majors who make a two-year commitment to teaching in low-income areas all over the country.
Speaker Kristin Bourguet graduated from the UA in 1999 with a degree in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology.
Bourguet said she attended a recruiting and information session for Teach for America in her senior year and decided to apply for the program.
"I was avoiding it because my parents and grandparents are teachers," Bourguet said. "Soon I knew it was the thing I wanted to do."
Bourguet said she felt her presence has had a positive impact on the students she taught in Baton Rouge, La.
"It made a difference every single day in and out," Bourguet said. "Working as hard as I possibly can. Being there every single day as a role model and teacher. Knowing your kids and bringing them together."
"It's an inspiring, incredible opportunity, but I've never worked harder in my entire life," she said.
Bourguet now teaches ninth-grade science at Marana High School in Tucson, along with interviewing applicants for Teach for America during her summer vacation.
Mia Henderson, a psychology and molecular and cellular biology senior, attended the meeting because she thinks the relationship between income and education is "unfortunate and unfair."
"Teach for America is the way I can do something about it, " Henderson said.
However, Henderson is still undecided about whether she will apply for the program.
"I'm not sure. It wasn't part of the plan when I first attended college," Henderson said before the meeting.
Speaker Lewis Leiboh, who graduated from MIT in 2000, said he worked at a computer company before he joined the program in 2003.
Leiboh said he had never heard of the program in college but saw a special on CNN that got him interested.
Leiboh is in his second year teaching math at a high school in Phoenix.
During his lecture he said the program's mission is to recruit the nation's top college graduates.
"It's very selective, they only want the top people. If 16,000 people apply, they only accept 2,000," Leiboh said.
However, Leiboh said 50 percent of public school principals find that Teach for America alumni do a better job than most other teachers.
Sheri Pierce graduated from the UA in 2000 with a degree in biochemistry and was one of the first Teach for America participants to teach in Chicago.
"I didn't think I was going to walk into a class where students don't believe in themselves," Pierce said.
After the speeches Henderson said she was impressed with what she heard and it encouraged her to decide to apply.
"It's really moving to see other people's experiences about how they helped kids. I'm almost a hundred percent certain I'm going to apply," Henderson said.
Nicole Rasmussen, a chemical engineering sophomore, said she is considering joining the program between graduation and graduate school.
"It'll be a nice break between finishing 16 years of school and getting ready for another four," Rasmussen said.
She also liked how realistic the information was.
"They said it was going to be hard but you'll be rewarded," Rasmussen said.