Major: Mathematics

Minor: UFTeach Mathematics, Leadership

Graduate: 2011

Deanna Kicklighter. I am from Callahan, FL. It is a very small town right outside of Jacksonville, FL. I graduated from West Nassau High School in 2011. I am a third year Mathematics major, UFTeach Mathematics minor, and Leadership minor. I plan to graduate in 2015 with a BA in Mathematics and a MEd in Mathematics Education. I’ve always wanted to go to the University of Florida and I am so happy to be a student here. The opportunities here are endless and I have learned so much in just two years.

In high school, math was my favorite subject. I had some amazing teachers throughout my middel school and high school years. Deep down, I’ve always wanted to teach. When I first got to UF I thought I wanted to be an Architecture major, but after taking Step 1 my first semester, I knew I could not hide my passion for teaching. I want to teach because I love math and I love to show people how exciting math is. I was always the student who was asked to help other students in my math classes and I loved it. Not only did it help me understand the material better, but I helped someone else understand math and that feeling is unexplainable. Being in the UFTeach program has only made me more excited to become a teacher. I love going into the classrooms and working with the students. Hearing the kids say “I understood math today” and “This all makes sense now” really motivates me to continue working towards becoming a high school math teacher.

This summer I am interning at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. The main thing that I am doing in the internship is working with the Education department, overseeing the ZooTeens! program. One of my goals for this summer is to make a new trail for the zoo. This trail will be available to the guests in the zoo and will give them the opportunity to see and possibly find all the native animals, plants, etc in the Jacksonville area. The guests’ experience at the zoo is so awesome. Most people from Jacksonville have never seen a goat in person, much less an exotic animal like a giraffe or jaguar. Working at the zoo with the teens is really fun. They will get to work in the goat yard, multiple bird aviaries, the stingray exhibit, and lots of other areas. I will also be doing enrichment for the animals with the teens and they will also get to work on some of the bank of the St. Johns River since part of the zoo is on the river. I will also get to give the teens an animal encounter once a week and I am super excited about working with some of the smaller animals at the zoo. It should be an awesome summer.

The Noyce program has given me the opportunity to learn and experience science in an informal setting. Being a math major, I don’t take a lot of science classes, so this internship has been amazing. It has also taken a huge financial burden off of my shoulders. This is a great opportunity and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer.