I have five years of college-level teaching experience in English, Composition, Spanish, and French. I have also taught English at a high school in France and tutored students in Writing and Spanish. Earlier this year, I completed my Ph.D. in Comparative literature at the University of California, Irvine. My research focused on Latin American literature, and as part of my master's I completed coursework in Spanish, French, and English. I earned a B.A. in History, Comparative Literature, and European Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While in college, I spent a year at the University of Seville in Spain. As a tutor and teacher, my first goal is to tap into my students' curiosity and show them how what they are studying gives them access to another world besides their own. I love to see students begin to use writing as a way to explore their thoughts and ideas. I also love to see the process of learning a new language at the early stages, which is often when a student begins to think critically about language for the first time. When I'm not working or reading, I try to travel as much as I can. I grew up partly in Costa Rica, studied in Spain, and worked in France. More recently, I have spent time in Mexico, Portugal, and Panama. Closer to home, I like hiking, spending time with friends, family, and pets, as well as learning to cook new things. I was once an avid soccer fan and am trying to get back into it now that I'm done with graduate school.