First, I have had direct involvement mentoring middle school students in mathematics through my local dentist's office. From there, I quickly learned that no experience is quite as unique or as rewarding as seeing a child have that light bulb moment when they finally understand a difficult problem or concept. Additionally, the lesson does not stop with just academics either. I have found that, in developing relationships with these students, I got to better understand them as people and adjust my methods accordingly. My second experience mentoring comes directly from teaching English to children of all ages in Oudong, Cambodia. Due to my limited understanding of the local language and teaching multiple levels of English at once, I was compelled to be creative to ensure all of my students understood our lessons. I developed lesson plans around the curriculum that featured games, singing, and dancing, finding alternative methods of expressing meaning to be very important in learning difficult concepts. This has had important ramifications for my style of mentoring; creativity and being able to think of ideas in different matters are useful to everyone trying to learn something new. Lastly, I have had the opportunity to extend my understanding of others in my work as a Democracy Fellow. Part of the mission of my university's Democracy and Public Discourse Initiative is to teach constructive practices of engagement and communication on topics of community concern. Through such projects as our freshman mental health conversations and our forum on substance abuse in in the county, I have learned that the best work is done on the grounds of a common understanding amongst diverse viewpoints. Ultimately, I hope to extend my training and the basic philosophy of freedom of expression as a method of making my mentees feel welcome in conversing with me.

Debate, reading, traveling