In August 1989, I married my high school sweet heart and moved to the Bay Area. I worked at a biotechnology company named Cutter making antibodies to fetal and early childhood viruses. After 6 months, I found out I was pregnant with my first child and was not able to work with the live viruses any more. After David was born, my husband and I decided to move to Iowa for better housing and jobs.

I became a stay at home Mom for 10 years raising 4 children. When my smallest child was 1 year old, we moved back to California to Santa Maria, Ca. I decided to go back to school and get a single subject credential in science at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. It took a year and a half, but I finally made it with credentials in introductory science and chemistry.

I have been working now for 9 years. I started out as just a part-time teacher and am now a full-time teacher teaching AP chemistry, honors chemistry and college prep chemistry at Santa Ynez High School in Santa Ynez, Ca. It is a very rewarding job. The students are awesome and my department is very supportive. It has been a long road getting to where I am, but it was worth every minute. I am looking forward to working with all the students and having a great year!

Karen Nguyen