MC faculty member gives perspective on late career change to pursue teaching
Dec. 17, 2021
Not everyone would voluntarily leave a job in nuclear science – later in life – to return to school to become a teacher, but that’s exactly what Doug Davis did.
Davis left his job as a senior manager with Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tenn., in 2010 to earn a master’s degree in education with the intention of teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to students in grades 6 through 12. Now Davis, who joined the Maryville College faculty in August, is teaching young adults at Maryville College in the Division of Natural Sciences as a visiting lecturer in chemistry – and he can offer a unique perspective to others who wish to make a similar career change through the College’s new initiative, a master of arts in teaching (M.A.T.) degree with an emphasis in secondary STEM beginning in May 2022.
“Something different”
Davis said when he graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry, he didn’t foresee ultimately entering the field of education.
“I got my degree in chemistry and went to work immediately in industry,” he said. “I worked in textiles, then pharmaceuticals, for a few years, then I found my home in nuclear. I worked for the company that makes nuclear fuel for the Navy for 20 years. When they hired me on, they were starting a new research and development group to look for other businesses outside of Naval contracting. Over that 20-year period, I went from an entry-level chemist to a senior manager managing two research and development groups.”
Davis enjoyed his work, was paid well, did interesting things and traveled quite a bit. “After doing that for about 20 years, I told my wife one day, ‘I think I’m ready to do something different,’” he recalled. “What was happening, as I was advancing in the company, I was doing less science and more managing. It was starting to stagnate and maybe morph into something that was less what I enjoyed doing.” As a scientist at heart, Davis knew he had to make a change.
After an honest assessment of what he’d enjoy and be successful at doing, Davis said, “Teaching teenagers and young adults seemed like a good fit for me. Most of the people I hired when I was working in nuclear were right out of college. No one teaches in college what we did, which was nuclear chemistry. So, I was doing college-level instruction to college graduates – it was just being called managing, but I was essentially teaching them how to do what we did. I felt like I was pretty good at teaching and I thought, ‘Well, I’ve always enjoyed working with teenagers, so I think I’ll become a high school science teacher.”
Off to Colorado
The Davises began looking at colleges and chose Colorado State University. “They had a master’s program similar to what Maryville College is starting here, where I could get my master’s degree in one calendar year,” Davis said. “That’s important – I left a six-figure income to basically become jobless so I could make this transition. We put our house on the market, and when we got an offer, I gave two weeks’ notice at my job. We put everything in a truck and moved to Colorado in a snowstorm. It was quite a story!”
His first job in Colorado was as a convenience store clerk working minimum wage. “That was humbling after having such a well-paying job!” Davis said. “I ended up working as a cook and eventually as a chef while I was completing some undergraduate prerequisite courses to get ready for the master’s program. It was fun. I had a good time, but it was hard. That’s one of the things for people to know who want a change. You’re used to one thing, and to put it all aside to do something different, you really have to want to do what you’re going to do.”
Davis completed the program, did his student teaching, and taught for two years in Greeley, Colo., before moving to Fernandina Beach, Fla., where he taught AP Chemistry, Chemistry and Physics Honors in grades 9-12 for seven years. “My son and grandson live in Johnson City, Tenn., and my wife and I felt the call of home back to the mountains of Tennessee,” he said. The position of guest lecturer became available at Maryville College, and he applied and was hired.
Eyes wide open
Davis said, “I really enjoy what I’m doing now,” especially meeting a variety of people from different backgrounds. “It’s fun to be a part of that process and hear them talking about what they think they want to do in the future,” he said. “Some of them who think they don’t want to be a scientist are actually really good at it. I tell them they really ought to think about it, ‘Do what you want to do, do what you love, but you have skills here.’ It’s fun to identify those types of people. But even the ones that don’t want to go into science, if I could help them have more appreciation or more curiosity about how the universe works in some small part, then it’s a good thing.”
Making a career change as he did requires asking yourself some hard questions to make sure this will be a good fit. One of the people he worked with previously, for example, obviously did not like children. “I could tell that pretty quickly,” he said. “So, I asked myself, why are you here? They were always complaining about the kids.”
“A big requirement for anyone wanting to do this career change is to ask themselves, can I honestly work in an environment with preteens or teenagers or very young adults and not get frustrated with them? Can I work more hours for less money? To do something like that, you really have to love it. I would hate for anyone to think that teaching is easy and you get your summers off kind of thing. That’s just not how it is. Teaching is not easy. I work very hard for a lot less money, and don’t regret it. But everyone needs to be honest with themselves about being able to do that. If someone gets into it with their eyes wide open, this can be an amazing career change.”
As a young person, Davis said he dreamed of making that six-figure income. “Then I got there, and after a few years, I was willing to give it away,” he said. “It’s interesting how as you work through things, how your priorities might change.”
MC offers new program
Next May, Maryville College will welcome its first graduate students to campus in the institution’s modern history, offering a master of arts in teaching (M.A.T.) degree with an emphasis in secondary STEM.
In the new program, graduates will earn, depending on their area of focus, an M.A.T. in one of three licensure areas: an M.A.T. in Secondary Biology, an M.A.T. in Secondary Chemistry or an M.A.T. in Secondary Mathematics. They will be prepared to teach in grades 6-12, where schools currently are seeing a shortage of applications from qualified STEM teachers.
“With the Great Smoky Mountains, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Tennessee Valley Corridor all nearby, this region is an opportune place for STEM education,” MC President Bryan F. Coker said in a memo announcing the new program. “Our program will send highly qualified teachers into middle and high schools to inspire and prepare more students to pursue these fields, all of which are so crucial to our region’s economic and environmental health.”
The deadline to apply for May 2022 enrollment in the M.A.T. program is Jan. 15. Requirements for admission include already having a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or nearing completion of a four-year degree in a STEM field. The program is not intended for people who have teaching degrees or licensure. It is well suited for working professionals who are interested in teaching as a new career.
More information is available at maryvillecollege.edu/MAT-STEM.
Story written by Linda Braden Albert for Maryville College