Fun Facts

Since I was in elementary school, I have loved the Japanese language and culture. I began watching Japanese cartoons and reading comics, but the more I learned about Japan, the more fascinated I became. In the fall of 2012, I was lucky enough to be able to study abroad in Tokyo for 3 months! I also love photography, graphic design, and surfing!

About Me

I am currently a 4th year Cognitive Science major specializing in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of California, San Diego with a 3.531 GPA. I hold the position as webmaster for UCSD Interaxon, a K-12 neuroscience outreach organization. In addition to maintaining the website, I also assist with educational presentations. After graduation, I plan on pursuing user experience, a design field based around user needs. However, I am also actively researching prospects to teach English in Japan.

Currently I work as a Peer Educator at UCSD’s Programs Abroad Office. There I am able to work with students one-on-one to provide a foundation of basic study abroad information. Previously, I was an instructional assistant for a Minds and Brains course offered at UCSD. I held weekly sections to break down recent lectures to assure the students’ understanding of the material. I enjoyed my experience so much that I later joined a neuroscience outreach organization, UCSD Interaxon. Here I help present various neuroscience topics to local K-12 schools. Last summer I also got the amazing opportunity to become an instructor at an all girls science camp where I taught a robotics course where I led two groups of 14 middle school girls through the design, construction, and programming of LEGO robots.

As for tutoring style, I come prepared with a flexible agenda to allow for questions. I begin with the basics and progress iteratively to help solidify the old material and to ease into the new. My favorite teacher said that you learn most effectively when you use the weird part of your brain, and I have since followed that philosophy. This method breaks down the given information and rebuilds it in a unique way, (e.g. song or story). I want the students to enjoy, not feel forced into, what they’re learning. I use analogies, diagrams, full-body enactments or any other method that proves useful to the student. Comparing the content to something more well known, such as TV shows, h