自2009年凯迪娜·坎贝尔·彼得森从bet亚洲365欢迎投注大学获得生物学学位以来，这是一个忙碌的10年.  她继续在康奈尔大学获得遗传学硕士学位，并在莱克维尔的霍奇基斯学校教授科学, 在接受埃克塞特的菲利普斯埃克塞特学院的教学职位之前，他曾在康涅狄格州和布鲁克林的帕克大学学院工作, 新汉普郡.  She is married to fellow Marist alumnus Joshua Peterson ’09, and they are the parents of two sons, Jack Maverick (5) and Kingston (1).  We spoke to Campbell Peterson recently about her career trajectory, how Marist prepared her for success, and the responsibility she feels as a woman of color at an elite boarding school.

Why did you make the switch from being a research scientist to teaching in a secondary school?  Did it end up being the right choice?

I ultimately decided to leave the bench because I fell out of love with the research.  我决定在更高的层次上追求科学，因为我喜欢这个领域的各个方面, but research had effectively pigeonholed me into one topic.  Teaching allowed me to spread my wings again in a way that I am finding both fulfilling and fun.  这对我来说绝对是正确的选择，我喜欢成为学习过程中不可或缺的一部分.

What’s a typical day for you at Exeter?  What courses do you teach and what other activities are you involved in?

A typical teaching day for me begins at 8 am and will go until about 5:30 pm.  我目前教两个级别的普通生物学，明年春天将与人合作教授一门研究课程.  Since Exeter is a boarding school, my day does not end once I leave the classroom.  Instead, I fall into my role as a dorm parent to 40 students.  取决于夜晚, 这可能意味着在宿舍里走来走去，与他们保持联系，或者烤饼干作为夜宵.  It’s wonderful to have the ability to connect with my students outside of the classroom.

You’ve taught at some extremely elite prep schools (Packer, Hotchkiss, Exeter).  那是什么样的经历啊?  Are the students what you expected?  这是值得的吗??

I have been very fortunate with the places I’ve worked.  All of the schools are very well funded, 也就是说我有了自由, 在大多数情况下, the autonomy to teach the material the way I wanted.  What I didn’t expect was how engaged the students 将.  在埃克塞特, 我们用哈克尼斯法教学, a student-centered/flipped-classroom model developed here decades ago.  哈克尼斯允许学生之间进行有意义和开放的讨论，我作为促进者.  It is fun to actually watch the process of learning occur around the Harkness table every day.  It’s a lot of work, but incredibly rewarding.

How did your Marist educational experience prepare you for the career success you have enjoyed?

Marist was where I learned how to ask a good question.  This may seem arbitrary until you try to formulate a good research question!  另外, the combination of science classes and involvement in the Celebration of 本科研究, 奖学金, 和创造性活动(CURSCA)确实标志着我第一次涉足研究科学的世界.  These experiences set me on the path to the career I have today.

你曾说过，你觉得自己有责任为你所在学校的有色人种学生树立榜样.  多谈谈那种责任感，以及学生在课堂上看到自己的面孔的重要性.

直到我成为一名教师，我才意识到我在科学课堂上的存在是多么有影响力, 甚至在一所学校里, 将.  I’m unsure why it never occurred to me previously, 但从高中到大学，我没有遇到过黑人老师，当然也没有黑人女老师.  There is a phrase used among people doing diversity, 股本, 和包容(DEI)工作, this concept of “windows and mirrors.“这本质上意味着，学生应该接触到具有教育意义的例子，这些例子可以作为一扇窗户，让他们了解与自己不同的经历。, as well as mirrors for experiences in which they can see themselves.  我是这一原则的坚定信徒，我觉得我对学生的主要责任就是为那些适用这一原则的人充当一面镜子，为其他人充当一扇窗户.  In a recent article in the school paper, 我以前的一个学生(她认为自己是一名黑人女性)评论说，她对自己和自己在生物学上取得成功的能力的信心与她在课堂上有一个榜样这一事实密切相关.  That was an incredibly touching moment for me, as I often feel like I am doing so little towards adding to the DEI toolkit at my school.  知道我的存在是她如何看待自己未来的驱动力，这是一个很好的提醒, 在某种程度上, of why it is I remain in these predominantly white spaces doing the work that I do.

你是两个小男孩的母亲——当你想到在美国作为黑人抚养他们时，你会想到什么?  你希望灌输什么?

Our two sons are of mixed heritage, but will be seen and identified by the world as black boys – and then men – as they grow.  My most recent job change brought us to the second whitest state in America, a fact that has been keeping me up at night lately.  Jack is about to begin kindergarten next year, and this moment will mark his first foray out of the private nursery school bubble.  作为一个注意点, 我的两个孩子就读的幼儿园没有当地公立学校那么同质化，因为那里的学生都是来自我们寄宿学校的多元化教师.  像这样, 我丈夫和我一直在重新评估，为了让我们的两个儿子在一个未必对像他们这样的人表现出多少爱或尊重的国家生存下去，他们需要接受哪些教育.  I am hoping to instill in them the knowledge that they are strong, smart, and worthy of respect.  Someone hearing this may question if these aren’t things we should be instilling in ALL children, but I would argue that I was very deliberate with my phrasing.  我们现在生活在这样一个国家，要么告诉黑人男孩他们是不值得的，被定罪的，要么只是因为他们的运动能力而变得重要.  我想确保我的儿子们拥有他们需要的工具来驾驭这样一个令人窒息的世界，这个世界仅仅因为他们的出生就对他们施加了许多不公平的期望.

Where do you see your career leading you?

If you had asked me if I 将 teaching 10 years ago, I would have told you with certainty, NO.  I was so sure that I wanted to end up as a Principal Investigator deep in a lab somewhere, 研究减数分裂和不孕.  一开始，我教书是为了满足史密森学会科学教育部门一个完全不同的工作要求.  这是命运的安排, 最后我真的很享受在教室里的时光，现在我打算在这条路上坚持很长一段时间.

You recently accepted an offer to join Marist’s new Diversity and 包容 校友 Advisory Board.  你希望从这次经历中获得什么?bet亚洲365欢迎投注成立这个委员会对你来说意味着什么?

I was incredibly excited to be invited to join the Advisory Board.  My professional career has offered me many opportunities to increase my DEI awareness, 我希望在这个委员会的参与能帮助我在我工作的地方的类似委员会中发挥更重要的作用.  为 me, it is significant that this committee was formed on the eve of my 10th reunion.  在过去的10年里，我改变了很多，包括我参与的社会正义工作.  第一次, 我觉得我真的要面对我作为一名黑人女性在科学领域的一些经历所带来的创伤.  I talked about the ideas of windows and mirrors being important for my students, 但这也适用于我. 我在我的黑人女学生身上看到了年轻时的自己，想起了我在那个年龄和整个大学期间想学的所有课程.  我希望校友多样性和包容性委员会的工作能够解决DEI在校园内和校外的所有领域，以便所有学生在那里都有公平的经历，并在毕业时带着导航自己世界所需的工具离开.

Your 10th Marist reunion is this fall.  当你回顾过去10年的个人生活和职业生涯时，你会想到什么?

So much has changed for me over the past 10 years; I’ve increased my education, 结婚, 有两个孩子, 找到了自己的事业.  Through it all, my husband Joshua has been the wonderful constant.  我们都期待着回顾过去，与我们的红狐同伴一起回忆过去的十年.  我迫不及待地想和家人一起回到哈德逊河谷，看看这里发生的一切变化, but also to take comfort in the things that have stayed the same.