Creating Light Bulb Moments
Hillsdale’s new biochemistry professor puts the College’s motto, Strength Rejoices in the Challenge (Virtus Tentamine Gaudet), into practice every day in the Chemistry Department. For Dr. Kelli Kazmier, presenting students with challenges is not only an excellent preparation for their future, but also a way for them to experience those light-bulb moments that first inspired her love of chemistry.
A native of Michigan, Kazmier caught the chemistry bug her junior year of high school. “I had a teacher who made the class so interesting,” she recalls. “There were so many neat ideas; it was a hard class but very fun.” Eager to continue her study of science, she enrolled at Beloit College in Wisconsin, initially thinking she would pursue cellular/molecular biology or anthropology. But when she took an organic chemistry course, she found that “everything clicked. It was very rigorous, and I struggled at first, but by the end of the semester, it all made sense.” She apppreciated that chemistry has rules and can predict outcomes, but was also intrigued with the “questions of life” that biology tackles. Blending the two disciplines, Kazmier chose a biochemistry major.
Working as a teaching assistant and tutor in college, Kazmier loved the one-on-one opportunities to help students grasp difficult concepts and knew she wanted to become a professor. Upon completing her doctorate, she began to search for teaching positions at liberal arts colleges. “Hillsdale offered what I wanted—a top tier liberal arts teaching environment that embraces academic rigor,” she says.
In her first year, Kazmier has taught students in all levels of chemistry—non-science majors in the core chemistry class, students who have just declared a major in the biochemistry classes, and advanced majors taking her senior seminar, “Mechanisms of Drug Action.” With each group of students, she has a particular goal. “I want my core course students to develop the knowledge base they need to become informed citizens,” she says. “Science has a place in the liberal arts and should not be feared. I want to teach my early majors how to be scientists, how to ask questions and build a structure out of their knowledge.” For advanced majors, Kazmier hopes to prepare them for what’s next. “Whether they enter the workforce or graduate school, I want them to be confident and prepared; they must learn how to develop their own ideas.”
This summer, Kazmier will have the chance for more one-on-one mentoring as she works with three students. “I’m excited to build my lab with them and help them understand what research entails,” she says.
With her first year at Hillsdale nearly complete, Kazmier reflects on her students and colleagues. “I feel at home here,” she says. “The students are a joy, and I’m constantly amazed by how hard they work.” Indeed, in the chemistry lab, strength rejoices in the challenge.
Printed in the Spring 2017 Alumni Magazine