From being a private tutor in Korea and working in a lab to entering his first year of teaching chemistry in America, Sang Lee has an objective to connect and build relationships with his students on a personal level that he says he didn’t feel while at his private institution. He says he wants students to build independence in the classroom and develop critical thinking skills to best prepare them for any course of education they pursue after high school.
“I think it’s just showing care for the students, being available for them, letting them know that in a few weeks, a few months, you’ll be able to do things that you couldn’t even imagine you’d be able to do,” Lee said.
Lee said he wants his students to think through questions and have more of an understanding of having responsibilities to prepare them for college. He urged his students to take every opportunity given and wants them to be involved in their academics. Coming from a tutoring background himself, he has prior experience teaching kids how to best prepare themselves.
“Because I come from a test-prep background, teaching students to be able to understand the intent of the question, and after reading the question, they should be able to lock into the exact topic, equation or formula, and be able to quickly solve through it using a tiered process, ” Lee said.
Lee describes the environment of a Korean institution as being different from the American school system. Korean students constantly attend school, and then immediately after, go to private learning institutions to further their learning. However, American students have a lot more freedom after their school day is finished, Lee said, adding he finds American students have a lot more individuality and uniqueness in comparison to Korean students. This has made him excited to follow his teaching career in America, where he can build a stronger connection with his students.
“American students, everyone’s very unique,” Lee said, “ Everyone has their strong interests. They have a clear goal on what they want to do, and they have the time to invest in their passions.”
He said he’s always felt a strong connection toward chemistry, considering it has always been his favorite subject, and he wanted to teach it early on, even begging his adviser at his tutoring center to let him teach it. After he left Korea, he worked in a lab in New Jersey to further his knowledge of chemistry and science itself. However, he said, he knew his research in the lab was only temporary, as he felt his main aspiration was to teach.
“The classroom is where I actually belong,” Lee said, “Just thinking through the lens of chemistry helped me understand how the world works better.”
