About Me

Hobbies are a great way to not only incorporate your own interests in the classroom but to include those of your students and to create fun learning opportunities out of it.

In particular, I enjoy looking at architecture and nature while on trips and taking pictures of them. Although such images may be easily found on the Internet, I find pictures to be taken by the one presenting them to be a different experience. I've always found such pictures to be more authentic as they tend to lack photoshop.

Photography has always been relaxing for me and showing them to others is a source of joy.

I also enjoy baking and love to bake for my family members for their birthdays, no matter how intricate their requests are. I've also experimented with various recipes to make them inclusive to family members who are on diets, have allergies, or have food restrictions.

My guilty pleasure, however, rests in books. I am slowly building up my library with the goal of having a room full of books one day. I've found reading to be a liberating escape when one is needed while simultaneously testing my imagination and knowledge, and increasing my literary skills. Although most of my books are in English, I am slowly expanding my library to include other languages, including French and German. One day, once I am proficient enough, I might include Japanese books.

Lifeguarding/Swim Instructing

Through this job, I have learned many important life lessons: conflict resolution, quick and creative thinking, split-second decision-making, and being extremely aware of my surroundings, among others. 

Most of my lifeguarding experience comes from working in a waterfront setting, where we are at nature's mercy and in a very unpredictable environment. Compared to our pool counterpart, we did not have as much equipment and our equipment was not of quality as high as theirs was, meaning a lot of creative split-second decision-making and effective improvisation was needed. I've also been in positions where I have had to train other lifeguards in being able to make creative and effective decisions, even while under high-pressure situations. The largest part of the job, however, was public relations. I had to be able to communicate with all age groups to ensure their safety and enforce laws/bylaws. This was done in tangent to needing quick reflexes and reactions to notice people at risk or people drowning (many drowning victims, especially children, look as if they are simply playing in the water. You need to be able to distinguish playing from drowning).

Through teaching lessons, especially at the beach, I've had to come up with creative ways to have students want to participate in the lessons as well as having to keep a sharp eye on them as it was a high-risk environment. I have experience talking with parents and have come to learn the importance of not only letting them know when their children are struggling but letting them know when they are doing well and have achieved a new milestone (I found it improves the student's self-confidence as well).