Our teaching support staff play a significant role in supporting lessons and students' learning. With over 20 years of experience working in school science laboratories, Ms Linda Lai shares more about her role as a senior laboratory technician at SOTA.

Share about yourself and your work in SOTA.

In SOTA, I oversee the science laboratory operations to provide support for staff and students to ensure that the laboratories are a safe environment for teaching and learning. My team and I support students in their science projects and assist teachers with their practical demonstrations by managing the stock in the laboratory, maintaining the laboratory equipment, as well as sourcing and preparing laboratory teaching and learning materials.

What do you enjoy about working in SOTA?

I enjoy interacting with young people, hence the SOTA environment is perfect for me. We provide guidance and work closely with Year 6 students for their Extended Essay and Individual Investigation Science projects. The mentorship process brings me great satisfaction as I see the students go from being unsure about their experiments and encountering failure, to finally achieving success and enjoying Science in the process. I also enjoy working with my colleagues, especially the Science faculty that I work closely with, who are such caring, hardworking and creative people!

Finally, share with us a memorable incident or interesting experience you've had at SOTA.

A few years back, the Science faculty came together to design and sew costumes for a staff dinner event. I remember the fun moments when we were sewing the costumes using needle and thread. We even used staplers and glue to complete the dresses. To our surprise, we won the second prize for the Best Dressed category. The experience was so memorable for me.

Did you know?
Ms Lai used to be a costume jewellery designer! In her free time, she enjoys making flower arrangements and painting.