“Teaching came to me naturally,” said Carmeline Williams, a new Honors Chemistry teacher here at Berkeley. Born in Sri Lanka, Williams has lived in a multitude of places throughout her life—including the Maldives, Jamaica and Zambia—before coming to college in California. Originally studying to be an optometrist, Williams discovered her aptitude for teaching while running study group workshops for chemistry. “I was always used to standing in front of students because I did that as a sophomore, junior and senior in college,” she said.

NEW TAMPANIAN : Williams recently moved to the Tampa area to begin her teaching job at Berkeley.

Williams was inspired by her father, who taught her the basics of chemistry throughout high school, sparking her interest in the subject. She aims to do the same with her students at Berkeley as well: “I feel that students at Berkeley have a genuine interest in learning and understanding the relevance of topics in the real world,” she said. She especially enjoys teaching hands-on activities in chemistry, such as the construction of Lewis structures.

Outside of teaching, Williams enjoys listening and doing karaoke to a range of music, excluding country music. She loves the International Mall and the various restaurants it has to offer, although she misses the Miromar Outlets in her previous home of Naples. Slowly but surely, Williams is adjusting to Tampa and the Berkeley community. She hopes to become more involved in Berkeley’s culture as she values the passion that both the students and teachers have.