Fun Facts

I'm the youngest of 5 kids, and I have 10 nieces and nephews! I love the water: I've played water polo in high school, and I swam for the University of Utah for 4 years. In college, I couldn't decide if I liked math or English better, so I am studying both. I love playing sports, and I absolutely love learning and teaching. I guess you can call me a well-rounded nerd.

About Me

I am half-deaf. I was simply born that way. When I was three, my parents figured out what was going on, and I got hearing aids, which help me hear like everyone else. When I was in kindergarten/first grade, there was a speech therapist that wrote in his report that I would never catch up to my peers, and probably would always struggle in school. When I was in third grade, I found this report, read it, and became determined to no longer be behind my peers, but to jump ahead if I could. I worked really hard, graduated in the top of my class in High School, and now I am currently pursuing a Math education major with an English minor at the University of Utah. I have finished all of my math courses, I am just waiting to start my student teaching in the Fall of 2013. I swam on the swim team at the U, and was team captain my senior year. I recently served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Houston, Texas. I got to serve the Spanish speaking population there.

I have volunteered at various schools, helping students with their homework and understanding new concepts. While I was in Houston, I helped many children with their homework, since their parents knew no English. Many of them were discouraged and not interested in learning. So I got to know them as individuals, and helped them realize that learning does have value and is interesting. There was a girl who didn't want to learn how to read, but with time (and showing that I truly cared about her), she developed a desire to learn to read and she had the biggest smile. I believe that's the real reward to helping others learn: happiness and smiles when they "get" it. Now I'm back in Utah, and I'm excited to help others develop a passion and drive for learning!

I like to think that teaching is like engineering: engineers constantly encounter new problems, and find new solutions. When we teach, we also need to be flexible, able to change our teaching methods to best help the student. My tutoring approach is first, show genuine interest and care for the student. This establishes trust and a desire for learning. From there, I like to build on their interests, and link the current subject to these interests. I'm a very visual and hands-on person, so I like to tell stories, draw pictures, play with objects to help students better understand a concept. I know that every student learns in a different way, and