At Tuscarora High School, there are many teachers, but few compare to Ms. Buchter. She’s kind, caring, and has a fun personality that makes the classroom experience more enjoyable. I had the pleasure of interviewing Buchter about her college experiences and what inspired her to become a teacher.
I asked Buchter, what made her become a teacher? She was a student at Penn State with a scholarship who then got a job with the ROTC as a tutor. She realized that she liked explaining things and enjoyed math- before that she was a pre-med student, before coming to the conclusion that she didn’t like biology. She still wanted a career that she could rely on. An area which she was skilled in, which she came to realize was math.
Another question that I asked Buchter: What did you enjoy most about college? She stated that she liked college a lot, and the freedom that came with it. She could work whenever she wanted as classes were optional to attend. She didn’t enjoy sitting down and listening to teachers; she was better at teaching herself. She stated that what she liked least about college was being on her own. She didn’t have her mom cooking, cleaning or doing her laundry. It caused her to be more independent which was a good learning experience for her in the end. She also didn’t enjoy having roommates. They ate food, came home late at night or were really dirty almost like siblings, but worse. She stated that she had a roommate during freshman year and they shared a tiny dorm together. Buchter’s bed was angled towards her roommate’s head. Her roommate was really dirty, didn’t shower and would blow things up in her microwave and never clean it.
She picked Penn. State because her dad had gone to the same school. She lived in Pennsylvania, so it was a big honor to go there for her. During college, she had this teacher, who was amazing, she was really good at her lessons and would inspire her. Buchter had to take Psychology during her teaching courses, and it was good for her, good relationships, how people work, their motives, and she almost switched to Psychology.
Buchter said she handled any stress by going to the gym, she also took a dance class during college, which she said was the best reliever for her. That also helped with stress. It was the best reliever for her. Her dance class was competitive and so she made sure to avoid taking strenuous classes as they constantly traveled. She traveled to: New York, Boston and New Jersey for her ballroom dancing. She did the competition during the day and went to travel the city at night. I asked Buchter, If there was a time in college where you had to overcome anything? She replied with, “I navigated through the typical stressors of life; I struggled at first learning how to balance my social life while maintaining good grades, attending classes and working at night. I had to learn to prioritize what mattered most in the moment and focus on what I could change, rather than worry about things beyond my control.”
Overall, Buchter is a teacher who makes math both a little more enjoyable and a little bit easier. She knows what she’s doing and she is not a strict teacher. If you enjoy math, and want to learn more about financing, think about taking Contemporary Financial Algebra next year.
