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Meet our 2023-2024 LIFT Scholars!

Eden Serrano, Multiple Subjects	Eden hopes to have profound relationships with each of his students, to have a positive impact on their lives, and to be a model for respect and acceptance. He plans to help his students develop meaningful, lifelong, functional relationships with education, learning, and the pursuit of knowledge. Eden wants to help his students discover who they are, bolster their senses of self, and create a welcoming and inclusive classroom where they can develop a strong sense of their personal identity. He is especially passionate about ensuring that students who have been historically left behind have a space in academia, see representations of themselves in their classrooms and curriculum, and know they are valued as they are.
Amelya Rose Madrigal, Mathematics	Amelya Rose is becoming a teacher to give back to their community and show students of color that they are valued and belong, and deserve to be in higher education. Rose hopes to show students that they can do math, and how math can be an important tool for them, as well as for their community. Rose is passionate about being of service to students in addition to helping them achieve academically and letting them know they can achieve great things!
Selena Jimenez, Science	Selena first became excited about teaching when working in a summer camp for students from underserved communities. She watched students make great strides in their learning and was hooked. That summer, Selena learned the value of getting to know her students personally in order to support them in ways that are of benefit to them. She is deeply committed to bringing joy and fun to students' learning and hopes to provide more Latine representation in the STEM community and STEM classroom. She plans to ensure that her classroom is a safe space for students of all backgrounds to engage in worthwhile and engaging science as her students learn about the world around them!
Rosa Guzman, Mathematics	Teaching is one of the that Rosa will contribute to her community. Rosa greatly appreciates all things that involve education and human development and is committed to teaching as a wonderful opportunity for both. Their hope is to equitably, joyfully, and communally encourage learning. She wants students to know that they deserve to have confidence in themselves and their mathematical abilities.
Nicolas Santana-Zuniga, Mathematics	As a teacher, Nicolas plans to create a learning environment that builds on and extends students' own ways of knowing and sense of belonging. In his classroom, each individual is viewed as a capable learner AND as a teacher themselves! When he was a student, Nicolas learned the value of a compassionate approach to teaching and a welcoming, inclusive classroom. He is committed to providing his students with the same in order to support his students' well-being and learning experiences.
Catalina Sutter, Science	Catalina chose to enter the teaching profession not because they did well in school, but rather because they struggled and had to work much harder in school because of a learning disability. Catalina is passionate about ensuring that an engaging, quality education is accessible to each of their students and that all students see themselves represented in their classroom. Catalina feels it is crucial to have BIPOC teachers and queer teachers in classrooms because they can relate to their students and create safer classrooms for students to be themselves and to thrive. As a teacher, Catalina is committed to creating classrooms where students of all backgrounds and communities learn from each other culturally and academically, as well as to provide a space where all students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas to develop a strong sense of themselves as capable learners.
Allan Noria, English	Allan's journey to becoming a teacher began when they first felt an empathy connection with educators of their past. This was strengthened after noticing this grew as a product of having role models who are genuine and adorn their lives with caring principles that inspire inquiry and revelation. Allan hopes to recreate this in their classroom by carving out a classroom environment that reflects and encourages growth, promotes and encourages inquiry, and exists as a safe place for students to learn about themselves and their peers.
Jasmin Bedolla, Multiple Subjects	Jasmin wants to mimic their educational experience with their students with the love and support they got from their educators. They inspired them to accomplish their dreams and hope to make students feel the same way. In particular, Jasmin hopes to build positive experiences in STEM subjects for students who might be discouraged early on. Jasmin is also most looking forward to making lasting impressions on their students in their academic and personal lives!