It’s the everyday moments with his students that Kyle Arriola says he enjoys most as a chemistry professor at MiraCosta College. 

“Interacting with students and teaching them is the number one joyous aspect of it,” he said of his job. 

He recalled an evening exam review session he held with students the week of Thanksgiving. After hours of intense studying, someone dropped off leftover pumpkin and cherry pies from a staff holiday party.

“We had all been working diligently,” he said. “We made the collective decision to break out the pie and just hang out. It was spontaneous and we were all just in it for the pie.”

Aside from the sweet treats, Arriola said he’s pleased that his students show an interest in learning about organic chemistry, the subject he began teaching at MiraCosta College in 2023.

“They’re comfortable asking questions around me,” he said. “It feels comfortable talking about something so important and abstract that a lot of people are intimidated by.”

Arriola’s own interest in science didn’t fully develop until he attended the University of Redlands. However, he recalls being fascinated as a preschooler when he held a ladybug and he thought the insect had peed on him when it secreted a yellow liquid. It wasn’t until he was an adult that he learned that the liquid is a ladybug defensive toxin. 

He initially wanted to be a high school biology teacher but fell in love with organic chemistry when he took a college course. He decided to teach organic chemistry instead and earned his Ph.D. at the University of California at Riverside. 

“Organic chemistry is so different from the chemistry you learn in high school,” Arriola said. “It’s far more conceptual and more reliant on several fundamental concepts. That really tickles my brain. It’s all just a giant puzzle and I think it’s a great mental exercise.”

His graduate work involved synthesizing insect pheromones, which aids in pest control for agriculture and conservation. He knew his work had been successful when he saw a video of a firefly attempting to copulate with an object covered with the synthetic pheromones his team had produced.

“It’s so visually validating,” Arriola said. “It’s clear that it works and you did it.” 

Arriola knew he wanted to focus on teaching and not research, so he began working as an adjunct professor at two community colleges in Fall 2022. Since he began working at MiraCosta College, Arriola said he feels supported by his colleagues in the Chemistry Department and throughout the college.

“Everybody is here for the students,” he said. “When I have an exciting idea that I want to share, we play off of it and they encourage me.” 

Now that he has found the job he has always dreamed of, Arriola said he looks forward to contributing to MiraCosta College.

“I’m excited to grow as myself and with the institution – to refine my skills such that I feel extremely proud and confident in my ability as a teacher,” he said. “MiraCosta is a great place to achieve those goals.”