Biography - Chitoh Emetarom

Degrees Earned
M.S. - Chemistry - University of California, Irvine
B.S. - Chemistry - Harvey Mudd College, Claremont

Work Experience
Instructor - El Camino College, CSU Dominguez Hills, Saddleback College & Orange Coast College
Graduate Research Assistant - University of California, Irvine
Graduate Teaching Assistant - University of California, Irvine

Why chemistry?
For the chance to learn about everything under the sun.

Favorite moment as a teacher?
There are too many to list! Recently my beginners, learning about measurements, viewed a website showing earthquakes in our area. I waited for them to get around to reading the legend. As, one by one, people realized the tremors were from that week and some from that very hour, these little "wow"s floated up around the room. Also recently, a student realized he could calculate how many molecules of substance he had just made. Another wonderful aspect of teaching is hearing what my former students have gone on to do.

One memory that makes me laugh concerns a demonstration that would occasionally send a drop of molten potassium chlorate onto me. People were seeming more wide-eyed than usual, when someone said, "Your hair is on fire!" Feeling fine, I nonetheless moved toward the fire blanket. But no one aided me. They were transfixed. I could not help yelling, "Don't just stand there, put it out!" It turned out that just a tendril of smoke had risen from my head.