Name:

Jesse McCaffrey 

Departments:

Natural science and Physics  

Pronouns:

He/Him 

Years at Anoka Ramsey:

5 years

Classes taught:

Astronomy and Conceptual Physics 

Why did they want to be a teacher/professor?:

“I really enjoy being able to talk with students and inspire them to bring their curiosity out. I find that it really keeps me engaged in the material that I’m teaching too. Students remind me that there’s lots to be amazed by when it comes to the universe and physics. Seeing all your faces light up about some of these things encourages me to keep exploring and learning.” 

Did they always want to be a teacher/professor?:

“I think from an early age I had an interest in teaching, it was something like second or third grade that I was a reading tutor. It was just fun being able to help people who didn’t understand how to read the same way that I did. I think that just kind of progressed and evolved as I continued to grow, that I wanted to keep teaching in some way.” 

Favorite class taken in college?:

“I took an intro class called Philosophy of Scientific Thought and I thought it was interesting because it was taking kind of the hardcore science that I had been doing for the last couple of years and it was presented from the perspective of like ‘what does this mean to people?’ and ‘how does this intersect with society, people’s views of science and how science can benefit people.’ I think the sciences get this reputation of being very cold and we’re looking for facts versus the impacts it has on people. I think that also spurred my interest in biophysics thinking about how we could use science to help people, to give them a better quality of life, to cure diseases, and make their lives easier.” 

Fun fact or hobbies?:

“When I was in middle school, I got accepted to this choir called ‘The Metropolitan Boys Choir’ and so I did that for around three years. We would do concerts in the cities, we traveled to Europe for a couple of weeks, and that was fun. The thing that I like sharing with people is that we were invited to sing the inaugural anthem at the first Minnesota Wild Hockey game. But the funny part about it is after we sang, they gave each of us a free Wild jersey which was awesome, I still have that. But they said that we had to leave, so we didn’t get to watch the game afterward.” 

What do they like best about Anoka Ramsey?:

“I really enjoy being here because of the students. You all work so hard and I know that a lot of you have lots of other things going on in your personal lives, but I see so many students come to my class wanting to get the work done and wanting to learn. That is really the best environment for me to explore my own curiosities and be able to inspire people. The students really make this a great environment.”