1 00:00:04,014 --> 00:00:05,680 CATHERINE DRENNAN: So I'm Cathy Drennan. 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,530 I'm a professor of chemistry and biology here at MIT. 3 00:00:08,530 --> 00:00:11,110 I'm also a professor and investigator with the Howard 4 00:00:11,110 --> 00:00:12,930 Hughes Medical Institute, and I've 5 00:00:12,930 --> 00:00:15,130 been teaching freshman chemistry here at MIT, 6 00:00:15,130 --> 00:00:19,990 particularly a course called 511.1 since I started in 1999. 7 00:00:19,990 --> 00:00:23,070 So I've always loved education, and when 8 00:00:23,070 --> 00:00:26,110 I started at Vassar College, I went 9 00:00:26,110 --> 00:00:29,130 there to study either drama or biopsychology. 10 00:00:29,130 --> 00:00:30,880 I mentioned I'm a chemist and a biologist. 11 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,042 You're like, what happened there? 12 00:00:33,042 --> 00:00:34,500 So I went there and I didn't really 13 00:00:34,500 --> 00:00:35,770 know what I wanted to study. 14 00:00:35,770 --> 00:00:37,325 And they said, oh well, if you're 15 00:00:37,325 --> 00:00:39,700 thinking of anything biology, you have to take chemistry. 16 00:00:39,700 --> 00:00:41,740 And I said, oh no. 17 00:00:41,740 --> 00:00:44,410 Please don't make me take chemistry. 18 00:00:44,410 --> 00:00:45,700 I took it in high school. 19 00:00:45,700 --> 00:00:49,180 I can tell you it has absolutely nothing to do with biology. 20 00:00:49,180 --> 00:00:50,780 It's deadly, dull, don't make me. 21 00:00:50,780 --> 00:00:52,460 Well, I had to take it, and I took 22 00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:54,670 it freshman year, first semester, 23 00:00:54,670 --> 00:00:56,160 and fell in love with chemistry. 24 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,890 And I realized it was about teaching and how 25 00:00:58,890 --> 00:01:01,360 one teacher could really make such an enormous difference. 26 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,590 I became interested in teaching. 27 00:01:03,590 --> 00:01:07,270 Vassar College actually had no research at that point. 28 00:01:07,270 --> 00:01:09,000 So my Summers I had to do something else. 29 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:10,550 I couldn't work in the research lab. 30 00:01:10,550 --> 00:01:13,890 And so I was a summer camp counselor, and eight 31 00:01:13,890 --> 00:01:15,110 through 12-year-olds. 32 00:01:15,110 --> 00:01:18,340 And I taught them about botany and all sorts of other things, 33 00:01:18,340 --> 00:01:19,760 and I was like, this is great. 34 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,520 So I signed up to take education classes. 35 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:27,980 And my advisor in chemistry was like, what now with this thing 36 00:01:27,980 --> 00:01:28,660 I'm signing? 37 00:01:28,660 --> 00:01:30,550 You're taking this education course? 38 00:01:30,550 --> 00:01:31,420 What is this? 39 00:01:31,420 --> 00:01:33,540 But I was just absolutely in love with it. 40 00:01:33,540 --> 00:01:37,140 And then when it was time for graduation, 41 00:01:37,140 --> 00:01:39,289 I thought about applying to grad school, 42 00:01:39,289 --> 00:01:40,580 but I wasn't really quite sure. 43 00:01:40,580 --> 00:01:42,882 And I wanted to really try out this teaching thing 44 00:01:42,882 --> 00:01:44,090 and see what I thought of it. 45 00:01:44,090 --> 00:01:46,590 So I got a job teaching high school, 46 00:01:46,590 --> 00:01:49,740 and I taught high school at a Quaker boarding 47 00:01:49,740 --> 00:01:51,590 school and working hog farm. 48 00:01:51,590 --> 00:01:54,320 And you have to understand, I'm from New York. 49 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:59,110 And New York and New Jersey, I can be an hour away 50 00:01:59,110 --> 00:02:00,630 from New York City. 51 00:02:00,630 --> 00:02:01,700 That was OK. 52 00:02:01,700 --> 00:02:03,560 And then I was going to Iowa. 53 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,180 So I packed up and moved to Iowa to this Quaker boarding school, 54 00:02:07,180 --> 00:02:10,560 and I taught chemistry, biology, and physics and drama. 55 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:11,650 So that came in handy. 56 00:02:11,650 --> 00:02:13,290 I did end up taking some drama. 57 00:02:13,290 --> 00:02:14,850 And I absolutely loved it. 58 00:02:14,850 --> 00:02:18,000 But as a high school teacher, I really 59 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,140 wanted to enrich the curriculum. 60 00:02:20,140 --> 00:02:22,240 And I was looking for things to say, oh, 61 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:23,840 you need to learn this in chemistry 62 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,670 because the big question that scientists are trying to answer 63 00:02:27,670 --> 00:02:30,570 right now is this thing. 64 00:02:30,570 --> 00:02:32,770 And you need to know this to do that. 65 00:02:32,770 --> 00:02:35,060 But I didn't really know what this thing was. 66 00:02:35,060 --> 00:02:38,230 So I felt like-- and I tried to get other material 67 00:02:38,230 --> 00:02:40,510 to learn more about the world of research. 68 00:02:40,510 --> 00:02:43,750 But there just wasn't very much good material out there, 69 00:02:43,750 --> 00:02:45,200 especially for chemistry. 70 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,860 And so I went to grad school at University of Michigan, 71 00:02:47,860 --> 00:02:51,180 and I thought, OK, I'll learn about the world of research 72 00:02:51,180 --> 00:02:52,850 and I'll go back and teach high school. 73 00:02:52,850 --> 00:02:55,380 And so I just tell people that I got slightly distracted 74 00:02:55,380 --> 00:02:57,770 on my pathway to do that. 75 00:02:57,770 --> 00:03:01,180 But I ended up at MIT and teaching here 76 00:03:01,180 --> 00:03:03,520 is such a wonderful experience. 77 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,490 I mean, the students are absolutely incredible. 78 00:03:07,490 --> 00:03:08,950 And I've found a home. 79 00:03:08,950 --> 00:03:11,730 I can run a research group, but I also can just 80 00:03:11,730 --> 00:03:14,260 have a fantastic time teaching. 81 00:03:14,260 --> 00:03:17,890 And so that's my unusual path, I guess, 82 00:03:17,890 --> 00:03:20,096 to teaching this course at MIT.