I began my career as a classroom elementary teacher in South Los Angeles, however my passion for working with kids and my love for teaching was evident years before it became official. My favorite game to play as a child was “school”. Long after the last bell of the school day would ring I would spend hours pretending with friends and siblings what it would be like to be the teacher.
As much as I loved learning being a student was not easy for me. I remember spending hours sitting at the dining room table reading and struggling to make sense of content. I would take notes for the textbook and make flash cards to review content. My hard work and effort paid off and I was accepted to the University of Massachusetts Amherst with an academic scholarship. I was the first in my family to graduate and at that point decided what I really wanted to be was a professor.
After college I did not enter the teaching profession just yet! I decided to move to Colorado and enjoy life in a small town with good friends. I spent two years in a little ski town called Aspen and had many fond memories that will last a lifetime. I decided it was time to move to San Francisco and see what life was like in this bustling tech-forward city.
After a few years in San Francisco I was offered a position as a technical writer in Los Angeles. As a technical writer my favorite time of the day was lunch break when I would volunteer helping young children learn how to read. It was only a matter of time before I returned to my true passion of teaching.
Teaching in South Los Angeles was challenging I learned so much from my students and really felt like I was making a difference. There were days when things were extremely difficult like when my school was on lock down because of gang shooting or when one of my students lost her father to a drive-by. Life in the big city of Los Angeles had many challenges but also opportunities to shape students lives and share a passion for learning. My students always challenged me to be the best version of me.
Teaching in higher education has been a dream come true. I enter my classroom with compassion, wisdom and an open heart.
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