The interests that lead me to become a teacher of English as a Second Language began while I was in high school in my hometown of Laurel, Maryland, where I began to enjoy literature and creative writing.  When I entered the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), I thought I wanted to pursue archaeology as a career, so I began to take classes in Ancient Studies.  As part of this major, I took my first classes in ancient Greek and Latin.  As soon as I began studying those languages, I knew I loved language learning. 

 

Shortly after receiving my Bachelor's Degree in Ancient Studies in 1994, I heard about an opportunity to teach English as a Foreign Language in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and I was eager to experience being a language teacher and learning Spanish while living in another culture. In Guayaquil, I taught English to adults and business people through the Spirit Academy of Language. 

 

I lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Ecuador from late 1995 until early 1997, when I returned to Maryland to enroll once again at UMBC in the Instructional Systems Design graduate program with a focus in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.  Through this program, I was able to return to Guayaquil for the summers of 1997 and 1998, during which I worked as an English teacher and teacher trainer at the Centro Ecuatoriano/Norteamericano.  In addition, I taught English as a Second Language to university students at both UMBC and the University of MD at Baltimore, and I had the fantastic opportunity to use my writing skills for the publishing company Recorded Books to adapt five classic short stories for use by ESL students in middle and high schools. 

 

Upon graduating with my Master's Degree in Instructional Systems Design/TESOL, I began teaching ESL to K-3 students at Cool Spring Elementary in January of 2000.  In the summer of 2002, I decided to move to Boulder, having visited Colorado for the first time in 2001 and loved it.  Before settling back into my career as a public school teacher of ESL, I explored other avenues of education and language teaching here in Boulder, including my work as a leader of improvisational role-play camps for children at Renaissance Adventures and my work as a Spanish teacher at the Friends School. 

 

In addition to my work as an ESL Lifeskills teacher, I actively pursue my creative interests as a guitarist and songwriter, writer, and visual artist.