Teachers, first and foremost, are responsible for supporting the next generation’s development into functioning citizens of our society.”

Zenas’s Story

Zenas Lee’s educational experiences have taken her to 11 different schools in four U.S. states and two cities in South Korea. This variety was partly why Zenas became interested in teaching, although she did not consider entering the profession until her junior year of college. When Zenas determined that she didn’t want to pursue medicine as a career, she focused on teaching. “I realize that it is the perfect profession for me because it ties together my diverse interests in science, adolescent development, language development and educational issues.”

Zenas has volunteered as a live-in counselor at the Bridge Peer Counseling Center at Stanford University and worked for the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. She notes that it is easy “to become overwhelmed by the fact that your students face diverse issues, both academic and non-academic, that impact their learning and their lives.” Thus, she would like to focus on ways to promote balance.

Zenas earned a BS in human biology from Stanford University, and is a graduate of their Stanford Teacher Education Program. “I would like to teach in a school that has great support for new teachers and a collaborative environment because I believe that teachers do their best work when they can share and discuss their practice with others.”