Nathanael Somerville-Braun

Chemistry teacher

Nathanael Somerville-Braun

Tell us a little about your background.

I grew up in the West, in Nevada and Washington State, but moved to Ohio for college and graduate school. My educational path was originally aimed at a career in science research, but in graduate school, I found my path diverged into education. After getting a master’s degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, I also got a Master of Education from the same university. I taught high school science for two years in Columbus before moving to New York in the summer of 2020.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

What inspired me to become a teacher was my experience during graduate school of teaching lab sections for college biology courses. I found that teaching students science motivated me through the joy of seeing students learn and understand science, and it even increased my own enthusiasm for science. I found the human connection of helping students learn to be much more personally rewarding that doing science research had been for me.

Why teach at PTECH?

Before coming to PTECH, I taught at an early college high school and appreciated the learning flexibility, professional skills emphasis, and PBL focus at that school. So when I moved to the Capitol Region, I was thrilled to find out about PTECH, which has all of those characteristics and an even more robust emphasis on PBL. I’m glad to be able to teach at a school that so thoroughly emphasizes teaching and learning authentic, real-world skills and processes.

What are some of your interests outside of work?

In entertainment, I enjoy sci-fi as well as other genres of TV, movies, books, and video games. In creative pursuits, I enjoy cooking. In outdoor pursuits, I enjoy walking, cycling, and hiking.

If you were able to talk to your 15-year-old self about life, careers and happiness, what advice would you give?

I would tell myself to view failures as learning opportunities, not defeats. Failures and difficulties in your path will grow you and prepare you for future successes, and detours of your current path might be the beginnings of new and better paths.