I was raised in a small town in southeast Kansas--Pittsburg, Kansas. I grew up playing outdoors and staying active. I also loved writing stories and using my grand imagination to make up for the slow, small-town life. This has overflowed into my adult life where I now like to go hiking, practice yoga, read and write short stories.

I got into teaching after learning about the social inequalities among diverse populations of the schools in the United States. I passionately and naively threw myself into my studies with intentions of saving the world. I graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas with an undergraduate in Education and student taught for one year in two different inner-city schools. My first job was at a high school and a middle school as an EAL specialist. I was 24 years old and the first EAL teacher in the middle school. As I was teaching language learners, I became more aware of how the education system was not set-up for language learners to easily access the curriculum. My passion went from saving the world to a more manageable and focused passion of helping educators provide equitable education to linguistically and culturally diverse learners.

After 2 years working in Lawrence, Kansas, and achieving my Masters degree in education, I was ready to explore the world. I wanted to feel first-hand what it was like to be a language learner and gain more experience teaching linguistically diverse students. Up until that point, I had only been able to travel through the experiences of my students. I began this adventure in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was my first time ever living abroad and it was quite the experience! I taught English Language Arts to 7th graders for 1 year and went through all of the emotions of culture shock, sadness of leaving my family behind, confused by the culture, language and new social situations and overwhelmed by the combination of all of those things. However, I gained a lot of perspective , patience and flexibility.

In Turkey, I fell in love with Istanbul. Working as a language arts teacher for the first year, my head of department realized my skills in reaching language learners and moved me to the neediest level of kids, 5th grade students learning English grammar, reading and writing skills. It was those 2 years teaching main course that reignited my passion for teaching English as a foreign language. That's when I decided it was time to seek an EAL specialist position.

The coordinator of the EAL program at International School Ho Chi Minh City-American Academy reached out to me personally through Search Associates in 2015. She did not want to leave her school, but had to move for personal reasons. She wanted someone with my passion to fill her role as coordinator. I was flattered and excited to move to a part of the world I had never seen before. Four years later, and I am still here. I love working with reluctant learners and helping them find their motivation. I love teaching not only students, but most importantly, the teachers and see their faces light up when I am able to provide practical tips, materials or give much-needed in-class support. It is my goal to become an expert on collaboration and best practices to get reluctant learners and those struggling with English proficiency actively engaged in mainstream classes.