“I initially enrolled as a biology major. Then I took ED160, Education and Schooling in a Multicultural Society…That course changed my life. I found my calling. In education, I will be in a position to share my passion for science.”
Newstein Chang ’19 was all in on STEM when he entered Saint Peter’s University. But it wasn’t until he took an introductory class in education that he realized his future would be in the classroom instead of the laboratory.
“I initially enrolled as a biology major. Then I took ‘Education and Schooling in a Multicultural Society,’” Chang said, adding that the passion of his professor was contagious. “I was inspired from the start. I knew that this is where I wanted to be, not chained to a lab stool, working with pipettes and microscopes. That course changed my life. I found my calling. In education, I will be in a position to share my passion for science.”
Chang served as a student-teacher at John P. Stevens High School in Edison—the rival school of his own alma mater, Edison High School. As well as finishing his coursework, Chang also served as a resident assistant, a volunteer coordinator for the Foreign Language School, and a peer tutor in the STEM Engagement Center, all of which taught him skills that will be useful as an educator.