I am a certified teacher and have years of experience working in schools alongside students. I love teaching because it challenges me in ways that I never thought possible. I also love when I help a student achieve something he or she thought was beyond their capability. I will never get tired of witnessing those "a-ha!" moments in my students. Helping a student understand a concept or simply soliciting a smile out of him or her is sometimes all the encouragement a teacher needs.

I pride myself on having a positive attitude and confront most situations with a smile. I firmly believe that when you change your mindset you can change the world. I can easily adapt to varying situations and have done so many times in my life. For example, my sense of adventure led me to travel for almost a year after college. I worked alongside families in Italy on their farms and lived out of a backpack. I was in a foreign country living with total strangers who did not always speak my language. I learned to be flexible and to enjoy the unknown.

My experience working with students is vast. In the realm of teaching, I completed internships in a variety of schools and subject areas. I worked for a year with severely autistic students and enjoyed being part of a team of people committed to helping this special population. I was a Social Studies teacher for two years and now I currently work in the special education department at a middle school. I also have experience tutoring elementary aged students. In college I volunteered fifteen hours a week as a youth ministry leader. I counseled girls through life's trials and built strong relationships with them. Through that same youth ministry program, I had the opportunity to work most summers at adventure camps. I led teenagers through ropes courses and on mountain biking excursions. It thrilled me to help girls overcome obstacles and confront fears. My time as an assistant basketball coach also satisfied my passion for working with adolescents. I coached a very diverse group of girls and took great pride in watching them overcome their differences and truly bond as a team.

There is always something new to learn while working with youth and I am always willing to change or adapt to make things more successful. I hope to create this same attitude in those I tutor. I hope that they leave our session always wanting to learn more after I have helped them work through their academic struggles using my vast knowledge of teaching best practices.

In my personal life I like to stay very active and feel the most alive when I get to enjoy the outdoors. I enjoy cooking and gardening and know that by maintaining a healthy lifestyle of eating well and exercising regularly I can be a better role model and tutor.