“When you follow your passions, things you think you may be throwing away may come back to you,” Bramlett said. “If you love your job, you’ll do a good job. If you take a job that doesn’t pay as well, but you are happy, you’ll find a way to make money.”  

   For a moment, Bramlett let big money make him do something he did not really want to do. He took a job at Halliburton. Though the first day of orientation went fine, they fired someone the second day, which made him change his mind about going into that industry and “making the big bucks.” 

   Teaching chemistry challenges Bramlett. Many of his students come in looking at chemistry as a hurdle. 

   “If you’re not enjoying the classes that lead up to your major, you’re probably not going to like your major,” Bramlett said. You need to love what you’re doing in the classroom. When they come in and say they want to go to med school, it’s disheartening and they’re not into it. You have to try to lead them to something they are into.”  

   Bramlett knew at an early age that he liked to draw shapes and structures, but when enrolling for college, he found himself in general chemistry due to all the art classes being full. He thought it was one of the easiest classes ever, and after taking nine more hours of it, he was in love. 

   “Some of the things you experience in chemistry, some of those structures, it is art,” Bramlett said. “There’s a lot of actual art in chemistry. So even though you think you may be getting away from it, you could be getting back into it.” 

   Bramlett said he wasn’t sure if chemistry was his passion, but that he knows teaching is.

   “There’s nothing quite like teaching a student and almost seeing the light bulb finally go off above their heads and they get it.”