Bio Page

For 27 years, traveling and experiencing life in different cultures has always been my way of life. I have lived in Japan since April 2019 as an assistant language teacher on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. I work at a private academy and engage in a collaborative team-teaching methodology within the English Department. Our campus includes a nursery school, elementary school, and a junior high school. I primarily teach at the elementary school, teach occasional lessons for kindergarten students in the nursery school, and assist preparation for district speech competitions at the junior high school level. I am very drawn to English education because I can empathize with learners of English as a second language, since I grew up in a multilingual household. I am currently enrolled in Louisiana State University’s M.A Educational Technology program to gain additional insight into a variety of teaching styles to incorporate into English education in Asian countries. Since living in Japan, I am also continually working towards higher certification in the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test.

I received two forms of formal education--one in behavioral health sciences and the other in science and mathematics. I received my Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Austin Peay State University in 2015, and in 2017 continued schooling for a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology with a concentration virology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. With my BSN, I worked as a registered nurse for four years, with one year being travel nursing. While at UTK, I co-taught an undergraduate course with a PhD candidate, Skills of Biological Investigation, as a teaching assistant. I also performed duties as a lab assistant in undergraduate research for the Department of Food Science.

My nursing specialty was in antepartum high-risk pregnancies, but I also have ample experience in gynecologic, oncologic, labor and delivery, postpartum, and newborn care as well. I have now segued towards a different career of English education in Japan.

Lastly, as mentioned above, I am quite the travel enthusiast and take the opportunity to venture out whenever I can. Since moving to Japan I have traveled to thirteen different prefectures (states)--all without a car! During this time, I obtained a new obsession and ongoing appreciation in admiring the shinkansen (Japanese bullet train), and I take every advantage of the travel services it provides. Other noteworthy mentions include that I have been a Star Wars fan for the past eleven years and I enjoy the art of practicality and storytelling in independent films.