Welcome to our class!

I am a graduate of Richland High School.  After high school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life, so I worked full time and attended classes (off and on) at TCC.  In May of 2000, one of my best friends graduated high school and enrolled at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX.  He told me that if I ever wanted to go to school, I should go with him and so I applied (expecting not to get in).  To my surprise, I was accepted and began my journey to getting my undergraduate degree.  

I had never been away from home and it was HARD.  I aced my summer classes and had a 4.0 GPA.  Then fall came and depression and being homesick hit me hard.  I failed every single class.  I had never failed anything in my life and I was devastated.  My 4.0 GPA became a 0.8 GPA.  I lost my grant and my scholarship.  I wanted to quit.  My dad told me that I wasn't a quitter and that I "needed to get my head on straight".  I was on academic probation, meaning I could not fail another class.  Ever.  I worked really hard and was a semester away from graduating when my dad passed away.  Again, I was devastated.   I took a semester off to be at home with my family and then came back to finish my degree, so that I would be proud of me, but also I wanted to make my dad proud of me.  So, don't even think about quitting on me....just saying.

I began teaching in 2007 at Sam Houston Middle School in Irving.  I started off teaching 8th grade writing and coaching.  I was the head soccer coach (I knew nothing of soccer at the time) my first year and moved to head volleyball coach in 2008.  I did that for 3 years and then I moved to U.S. History,  Two years later, my dream job opened up.  I started teaching GT Humanities in 2010.  I also started writing curriculum for the district.  I loved it.  I loved it so much that in 2012, I began school again to get my Masters degree.  I graduated in August of 2015 with my degree in Gifted Education.  In 2019, I moved to L.D. Bell High School and I love where I am!  This has been such a great change in my life and I am proud to call myself a Blue Raider.

I am a huge nerd/geek.  I fall into both descriptions.  I collect POP! Vinyls, I belong to too many fandoms, I love mythology, I love to learn about other cultures and I am currently immersed in Asian cultures (Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thailand, and Taiwan).  I LOVE to read and I get obsessive about things...it is part of my GT nature.  I have been to many Comic Cons and Fan Days in Dallas and have met a lot of stars!  My favorite bands are Blue October and BTS.  My current favorite solo artist is Eric Nam.  I do not have a favorite book or movie, because I love too many of them.  My alter ego is Deadpool.  I love him!  I prefer Marvel to DC.  My favorite Avenger is Iron Man.  My X-Man is Storm or Rouge...I would love to be either of them.  

I am the true American mixed mutt.  My father was a second generation American. His father came from Lebanon and his mother from France.  My mother's family helped to settle the US on her mom's side and her father's family came to the US before WWII from Germany.  (The fun things you learn when you research your genealogy.)

My beliefs about education are simple-you will get out of learning as much as you put into it. Meaning that you must engage in our class to learn. I am usually pretty chill, until you show me that I cannot be chill with you. I  believe that the more relaxed we are, the more we learn. Let's have a great time together and learn new things!