From funny memories to track to learning, she wanted to be a teacher, and biology teacher Natalie Gardner’s high school life was full of excitement. Through her experiences, she expresses her love for teaching and advice she would give high schoolers now.

Gardner has been a teacher for eight years. She currently teaches biology and forensic science. This is her first year at McDaniel, and prior to that she taught at Roseway Heights for seven years.

She attended Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, where she was heavily involved in sports during her high school career, doing both volleyball and track.

“I did not have the competitive drive for team sports. But track was my thing. Loved it, “Gardner said. “I was a team captain senior year [and a]high jumper.

Gardner was very skilled at high jumping, even reaching her goal (5 feet 2 inches) as a jumper.

She loved the idea of teaching from a young age, especially after child development became her favorite high school course. At her school, there was a preschool on site with a class on child development where high schoolers ran the preschool.

“As a senior, I was the TA, so we got to make a curriculum for the preschoolers. I really loved it,” Gardner said.

She had always worked with kids throughout her life. This helped her know teaching was meant for her.

“I found myself drawn toward younger people. And I knew I was good at it,” Gardner said.

Her least favorite class was English. Gardner was undiagnosed with dyslexia in high school and struggled with reading.

“I had to take remedial reading classes,” Gardner said. “They had to catch me up to grade level.”

Gardner’s funniest moment in high school happened in her junior year social studies class, when she went to sit down in her chair the legs fell out behind and she fully crashed to the ground.

Gardner was voted best smile in her senior class of 2009 for superlatives.

“I may have campaigned for it,” Gardner said.

The highlight of her high school career was senior year. By her senior year, she knew a lot of her teachers well and felt supported by the staff.

“I was taking pretty easy classes, and so I just got to show up and have fun and support the school,” Gardner said.

If Gardner could go back in time, she said she would have applied herself more. She didn’t take any AP classes and tried to do the minimum work possible.

“I didn’t really take advantage of all the opportunities there academically,” Gardner explained.

Although it took Gardner a while to build her confidence, she loved high school.

“I loved being involved in sports and had a really good group of friends,” Gardner said.

Gardner’s final piece of advice for high school students now would be to try everything: “You have access to free education here. Do it while it’s here.”