Anna Pauley

At the age of 34, Anna Pauley made a career change. After working with the elderly as a physical therapist assistant, Pauley said, “It just wasn’t working.” Between difficulties during holidays, unpredictable scheduling, and the job just overall not fitting the needs of her schedule, Pauley made the change to pursue her long-awaited childhood career. “I always wanted to be a teacher growing up, but then I pivoted into physical therapy.” After making the decision to switch, Pauley is excited to start her first-ever year of teaching. “I like helping people, and teachers do a lot to help their students and their families.” 

Pauley really enjoyed chemistry during her college years and was very active and involved in her high school years. Pauley said, “If I could fit it in my schedule, I would do it.” Pauley has a love for more than just science though, as she was involved in band, student council, volleyball, basketball, dance team, track, swim team, speech, and more. Her favorite of all the activities would be dance.

Even more so, Pauley loves to travel. She travels when she can, and even studied abroad in London. Pauley also enjoys fun activities like sand volleyball in the summer.

Pauley’s backstory doesn’t stop there though. Pauley has four kids; three girls and one boy. Her kids are one of her biggest accomplishments. With that, Pauley once worked at a Beyonce concert. “I sat people in their VIP room, and in exchange for that I got to sit right in front of the stage to see her.” This was a very exciting experience for Pauley.

In the future, Pauley plans to continue teaching. She is open to teaching different types of science, but chemistry is definitely her favorite. Pauley says she’d like to “keep teaching and raise good kids.” She is very excited about this school year, and can’t wait to see what it brings.