Amanda Smith graduated from Penn State in the fall of 2005 with degrees in Biology and Secondary Science Education, and a minor in Ecology. Amanda is currently the Director of K-12 Engagement at Penn State. Before working at Penn State, Amanda taught Biology for eight years and provided research experiences for her students.

Ever since a young age, Amanda was immersed in the Penn State family. She comes from a Penn State family, and grew up learning football chants and wearing all the blue and white apparel. This made it an easy choice for her to come to Penn State, but she really fell in love with it because of “the beauty of the campus and how many amazing opportunities you can get involved in when starting”.

When it came to choosing her academic program, Amanda focused on her interests. At the age of thirteen, she was diagnosed with type one diabetes and developed a love of medicine and science due to her diagnosis. While she really loved science growing up, she also realized she enjoyed explaining it and interacting with the community and decided she wanted to be a science teacher. So, when Amanda came to Penn State, she was able to continue growing her love for science while also being able to study teaching.

When asked what she liked best about the Eberly College of Science, Amanda responded with “the Eberly College of Science really helped me explore other possibilities”. She explained how she was able to go on a course-based research experience to Costa Rica with one of her professors. She described this as a transformative experience that she was able to utilize when teaching Ecology to her students. This was just one of the many great experiences she was able to take advantage of because of all the possibilities within the Eberly College of Science.

Amanda gives future and current students the advice to “explore as much as possible and don’t be afraid to break out of your comfort zone and meet new people that are different from you”. She was able to do that at Penn State and wants every student to have amazing opportunities to learn about their interests and grow.

Amanda has always been a part of the Penn State family and one of the best things about her experience at Penn State was the friendships. She was able to meet friends from all over the world and from different backgrounds. The family aspect is what helped draw Amanda to Penn State and is what motivates her to continue working with students through Penn State.