Marlene Urbina always knew she wanted to be a teacher, but she had always imagined herself in the music room. In her junior year of high school, she was accidentally placed in an engineering class, which changed everything. Though she didn’t think she belonged at first, Urbana came to love the subject and chose to pursue it in a future teaching career. This fall, she will join the U-High faculty as the newest Engineering Technology teacher, bringing an impressive background in both education and research.
Urbina’s connection to Illinois State University began long before she enrolled. During high school, she attended a couple of state music competitions on campus and fell in love with the campus, and knew it was where she wanted to be. This May, Urbina will receive her bachelor’s degree in Technology and Engineering Education from ISU, one of the few universities in Illinois that offer this specific major. “I love that my major is pretty small and there’s about 30 of us, so we all know each other, and get along pretty well,” she said.
After serving as an intern this past year, Urbina has already made a meaningful impact on students and staff through her dedication, enthusiasm, and passion for teaching. Engineering teacher Cory Culbertson coordinated her internship for the 2025–2026 academic year after she began as a TCH. “He’s so smart, very kind, and he always finds a way to help me be a better teacher,” Urbina shared. She described her working experience with Culbertson as “amazing” and credited him as a major influence on who she is as a teacher now. She reflected that when you first start teaching, you want to be liked right away. However, Culbertson told her that respect should come first. “With that respect, students can gain your trust, so that helped me a lot in developing the type of person that I wanted to be, but also how to connect with my students,” Urbina said.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Urbina is an ISU Bone Scholar, researcher, teaching assistant, and published author of three academic articles. Becoming an ISU Bone Scholar is a big accomplishment. First, you have to be elected by your department, which leads to 60 candidates. Each candidate then has to submit a portfolio of all their work as a student, letters of recommendation from their professors, and letters of reflection. After that, only 14 out of the 60 are given the honor. “[Receiving the award] meant a lot to me because, well, I’m a first-generation student,” Urbina said. These accomplishments highlight her expertise and commitment to her career. With her strong academic background and ability to connect with the students, Urbina will be a valuable and inspiring addition to the U-High community.
Urbina acknowledges the challenges of the student-teacher identity. “Student teaching is one of the hardest things in your life. See, student teaching is awkward because you’re technically still a student, but your students see you as a teacher,” she stated. “Then you walk out of the school and to all your friends or all your professors, you’re the student. So it’s kind of like a double life that you’re living.”
Despite these challenges, she highlighted how well her professors have prepared her for her future career as a teacher. In their very first course as freshmen, Tech 101, students are placed directly with learners, giving them the opportunity to create lesson plans, rehearse them in front of other students, and present to a live audience.
For Urbina, great teaching comes down to two things. “There’s two parts of being a teacher: number one is teaching your content and number two is making connections with those students. Together, they make you a better teacher.” Ever since her time as a TCH student, she was drawn to the culture and community at U-High and knew she wanted to work here.
Advice she leaves for future students interested in the same field is to “Believe in yourself. Take advantage of any and every opportunity that comes your way and remember that you’re never alone even when you feel like it.”
With the addition of Urbina, the number of available engineering courses is expected to double. She currently plans to teach introductory engineering design as a year long course, architecture, agricultural animal implant science, trades, engineering, and agriculture technology and mechanics as semester courses. Additionally, she hopes to expand the number of clubs at the school. Looking ahead to the following year, Urbina plans to incorporate more content and project-based learning, allowing students to create a range of things that they may take home with them.
