An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces and uses his experience. 

- James Arthur Baldwin

   Growing up, I knew that I loved two things: studying other languages and cultures and helping other people to understand the things I had learned.  Most of my part-time jobs in high school and college involved tutoring or teaching in some way; first, as a flute teacher and later as a French tutor/nanny for different families.  The strangest job I ever had was teaching French two hours a week to a French woman's children.  Despite these passions and my obvious interest in the arts, I spent my first years in college following a lot of other people's advice.  I studied engineering, I joined the formula one team, and I spent a long year studying architecture.  The only classes I took consistently during this time were my French classes.  I finally decided to take this interest in culture and language and make it my career.  In 2003 I graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science (International Relations) and French.  I fully intended to travel for a few years and then continue my  studies in International Relations.  

    I joined the U.S. Peace Corps in July 2003 and spent three wonderful years in the Philippines.  Because of my volunteer work in college with sexual assault victims, I spent most of my time in the Philippines working in a center for abused women.  My official title was "Community Services Educator" and my job description was very vague.  I basically served as a resource person and trainer for staff and clients of the center.  I spent most of my time researching various topics on the internet and then putting together  presentations.  I also organized community events to educate women about available resources in the community.  These events were often held in the local high school gyms, so I began to meet a lot of educators.  Towards the end of my second year in Peace Corps, the local high school principal approached me about helping them to develop a school library and teaching a remedial reading class.  Because of these projects, I extended my service in the Philippines for an extra year.  

    During this last year of my service I began to look for job opportunities back in the states.  Working for the U.S. government overseas and seeing the realities of life in the foreign service, I realized that I may need to re-evaluate my career goals.  An advertisement for the Mississippi Teacher Corps in the Peace Corps Hotline caught my eye.  I realized that while I had spent three years working to improve the standard of living in a foreign country, there were similar problems in my own country that had not been resolved.  I recognized this program as an opportunity to continue my community service work once I returned to America, and I felt that my education work in Peace Corps prepared me for this challenge.  

The pages that follow give a brief glimpse into these past two years and how they have affected my life.  I went into the program knowing the harsh realities of community development and feeling in many ways that coming to Mississippi was very much like coming home, and yet I still met many surprises along the way.  Hopefully, these pages will give you some sense of my philosophies on education and how this whole experience has shaped my life.  Enjoy!

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