I absolutely love to teach, and I love to learn, but I can assure you, it wasn't always this way!
I struggled a great deal academically throughout my middle and high school years. Friends, clothes, dating...pretty much everything came before academics. It wasn't until college, when I was able to take classes I really had an interest in, that I finally began to excel. Now, to be clear, I didn't just suddenly wake up "smart" one day (although that would've been nice). The reason I was doing so well was because, in the past, if I found a subject boring, or even slightly challenging, I didn't care about it. I tuned my teacher out, and made zero effort.

Despite the challenges of school and life in general, I was determine to move forward and be successful. After graduating high school, on my own dime, I went to a local community college and took my "basics". Eventually, I transferred to the University of Houston where I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, followed by a Masters degree in Social Work. Mission "Prove my Parents Wrong": Accomplished.

After graduating, I became a licensed therapist, and worked with children and families for about 10 years before making the decision transition to teaching. I went back to school to earn my teaching certification, and started teaching, and I love it!

I am currently certified to teach every grade level, and have additional certifications in ESL, GT, and Special Education (and of course, being a teacher in Texas, I am a STAAR expert). I have worked extensively with students of all ages, with a variety of needs and goals. I have a plethora of resources and "tools" that I use to ensure each student gets exactly what he/she needs, whether that's test prep, help with a writing/editing a graduate research paper, learning to read, subject enrichment and everything above, beyond and in between. I have a very open and flexible schedule, and, personally, I think I am awesome to work with! (a little joke of course)

Bottom line (finally, I know)...

As previously mentioned, college was where I realized I was actually a little bit smarter than I had been giving myself credit for, but it was also where it became clear that there were some things I was just not going to be able to wrap my head around. My solution? I found some great tutors, and as a result of my experiences with them, I am a firm believer that the best tutors are those who have needed and used one at some point! Now, I'm certainly not knocking those individuals that seem to just "get it" (no matter what the subject)...sigh...but that was definitely not me! I think it truly "takes one to know one", and that is really what drives me to do what I do!