Fun Facts

I rowed all four years of high school and now as a varsity member of maryland/columbia">columbia">maryland/columbia">columbia-university">maryland/columbia">columbia">maryland/columbia">Columbia University Lions! I absolutely love the sport's focus on teamwork and group fun. I am the oldest of three children (through really the oldest of five if you count our two dogs - which I know my mom does!). Though I now live in New York City I am still a true Chicago girl at heart. I even get excited when I see small things, like a Cubs poster, in the background of TV shows and movies!

About Me

I am a sophomore at maryland/columbia">columbia">maryland/columbia">columbia-university">maryland/columbia">columbia">maryland/columbia">Columbia University pursuing a major in Economics and Political Science with a concentration in Education. After graduation I plan to spend a couple years teaching in the Public School systems of either Chicago or New York before returning to school for my Doctorate of Educational Leadership. Once having earned an Ed.L.D. I hope to help transform our country's public school system. Learning has always been an incredible passion of mine. I was fortunate enough to attend a (public) high school full of teachers and administrators who both challenged and supported me. Yet, unfortunately, my experience is foreign to many students. My ultimate goal is to alter the governing policy and classroom approach of American public school's so children who may now feel unmotivated, unsafe, or unchallenged in their classrooms will eventually be able to experience the positive and intellectually inspiring atmosphere I remember from high school.

At the end of my junior year in high school, my then pre-calculus professor approached me and asked if I would please donate one of my senior year free-periods to volunteer in the school's math resource center. As a math resource center chicago">tutor I had to address a wide range of student questions, everything from algebra I and fundamental geometry to pre-calculus, on an unplanned, drop-in basis. I learned how to switch gears quickly and juggle multiple students in a 40 minute period while still making sure every student gained a thorough and confident understanding of their particular material. On a less formal scale, I have spent countless hours helping both of my younger siblings (a sister who is in high school and a brother in junior high) with homework in all of their subjects.

I am a firm believer that most problems in the classroom result from a shaky understanding of fundamental concepts behind the actual questions asked. When a student comes to me with a particular problem on their homework, I ask them to explain, out loud, their approach to the problem in question. Once I have an understanding of where the student's logic went awry, I will typically break done the problem into a series of simpler "mini-problems". Completing each of these smaller problems with the student gives them a better understanding of the concepts behind the problem they initially struggled with. When we return to the original problem, they not only have the tools necessary to understand that particular problem in question, but other problems dealing with the same concepts that may be structured differently on a test or other form of assessment.