When she was a senior at Randolph, Kacey Meaker ’08 jokingly told a friend that one day she would return here to teach.

“One thing that has changed is how much Randolph’s physics program has grown. There are so many more physics majors than there were when I was here. They’re very motivated.”

In the classroom, Meaker strives to share her love for physics with students and encourage them to think critically. She also shows them how various concepts in physics are a part of everyday life.

“Understanding relativity is necessary for your GPS to work correctly,” she said. “And without quantum mechanics, none of your computers will work and you can’t build one. People know physics is important, but they don’t think about how it applies to their life on a day-to-day basis.”

Other than reading, volunteer work is one of Meaker’s favorite hobbies. While at Berkeley, she taught classes at San Quentin State Prison, helping inmates earn their associate’s degrees. In the Lynchburg area, she travels to Brook Hill Farm, a horse rescue and therapeutic riding center in Forest, twice a week, where she rides the horses and works with the at-risk youth who attend programs. She also helped with the Randolph SUPER program and taught high school students about fluid dynamics with the College’s Science Saturdays program.