To students, most likely counting the seconds until you graduate, could you imagine willingly coming back to Del Val? Well Ms. Alexandra Zolton did! 

Zolton is a science teacher who’s been working at Del Val for the past four years. As an alumnus, she never planned to return to the school, as she was initially a behavioral neuroscience major. That is until a sudden misfortune came into her life: she lost someone close to her.

In a world where she thought she had her future defined, Zolton collided with an unfortunate loss. Something that all people, no matter the age, whether teacher or student, know of. But it’s far different when you’re met face to face with tragedy.

This event immediately forced the enthusiastic teacher to take a step back and look over what it was she was doing with her future. 

“My degree wasn’t even in teaching…. I had a big altering change happen, and I felt like I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life,” Zolton said. 

“It just threw my world upside down.”

She decided to turn to her own professor of neuroscience for advice. As she revealed what she was going through, it was he who suggested teaching. 

“I applied on a whim, really,” Zolton said, chuckling through her words. 

With no surprise Zolton got in. She absolutely adored teaching and does to this day. 

She now wakes up every morning excited to go to work, and most important of all, she wakes up secure in knowing that this is what she’s meant to do. Teaching is her purpose.