My own teaching method is strongly informed by my personal experiences as a student. At the conclusion of Kindergarten, my teacher advised my parents that I was not going to be able to keep up with my classmates and needed to be held back for a year; they felt I was lacking focus and at risk of failing to develop in step with my peers. Despite my teacher's concerns, my parents decided to send me along to first grade and trust that any 'growing pains' would resolve themselves. Twelve years later, I graduated in the top 1% of my class after being selected for the Honors/AP track at my school, received four academic merit based full-tuition scholarships to top ranked universities, scored in the 99th percentile on various standardized exams, was one of only thirteen young women invited to join the Illinois' Allstate Academic Team, had preemptively completed some of my college course work through a scholarship at University of Cambridge (UK), and received membership invitations to a multitude of honors societies. My academic aptitude accelerated in college, and I graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude among other accomplishments.