After my first year of college, my roommate and I decided to spend the summer biking through France. Little did I know how much our summer adventure would shape my future. While exploring the Mont St Michel, châteaux, the Alps, camping out in fields and toiling over mountains, I decided that my next goal would be to study literature in France. A year in Montpellier, France confirmed my love of French literature and travel, both of which led in turn to the next stage of my life—six years writing a Ph.D. in 19th-century French Literature and Women’s Studies.

Seven years after earning tenure in French at the University of Richmond, my family and I decided to pick up stakes and move west to Portland. Although I thoroughly enjoyed teaching at the university level, I find that teaching high school is rewarding at an even more fundamental level, while offering a whole new set of challenges. Teaching motivated and intelligent students and working with a cohort of incredible colleagues is inspiring and invigorating. This year will be my 17th year at OES where I enjoy being in the classroom, leading the French Exchange to Lyon, and beginning the school year on the Sophomore backpacking trip. OES is a wonderful place to share my love of French language and literature!

Education:

B.A. University of California, Santa Cruz

Ph.D. Cornell University