I hope to encourage students to pursue their goals and show them the many ways that science applies to their everyday lives.”
Rebecca’s Story
Rebecca Selleck has loved science and animals from a very young age, volunteering at different nature and animal rehabilitation centers throughout high school. The first person in her family to pursue a four-year college degree, Rebecca initially had doubts about her ability to succeed. Her teachers convinced her otherwise. “I had excellent teachers who encouraged me to pursue bigger goals.”
Rebecca majored in biology and minored in chemistry at Clayton College and State University. As an undergraduate, Rebecca worked at the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety research laboratory, assisting on dairy cattle research projects and with oyster collection along the Georgia coast. After graduation, Rebecca worked for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Food Microbiology and Food Safety Laboratory, helping ensure that Georgia’s food producers met proper regulatory guidelines.
The fall after her graduation, Rebecca’s 14-year-old cousin was placed in foster care. To keep the family together, Rebecca took on the challenge of giving him a permanent home. “The experience of raising a teenager has been extremely challenging and extremely rewarding.” In an effort to be more involved in her young cousin’s life, she began tutoring him and his friends. At the same time, she volunteered with youth group projects in her church. These experiences inspired her to become a teacher.
Rebecca is a graduate of Newnan High School in Newnan, Ga. “It was my science teachers who motivated me to pursue college in the first place.”