Fun Facts

Something no one ever guesses about me the first time we meet is that I spent 13 years training as a semi-professional ballet dancer! I'm a huge fan of the original 3 Indiana Jones movies, and my favorite pastimes include traveling, playing with my cat, beekeeping, backpacking, and working on archaeology excavations and in museums!

About Me

I'm a junior majoring in English and archaeology at the washington-university">George washington-university">Washington University. I'm a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the Golden Key Honors Society and the English Department Honors Program, and am pursuing a combined BA/MA degree in English literature. I plan to continue to a PhD in archaeology when I complete my MA and hope to teach university archaeology in the future and direct my own excavation. I was one of six National Writing Award Finalists for the Muhammad Ali Award for Ethics 2012.

I've spent the last two and a half years working as a writing specialist TA with the Biology Department here at GWU. I was hired specifically to work with science majors who had difficulty with writing, as well as to work with other students to improve their skills in biology. I really enjoyed seeing how an inter-disciplinary approach helped struggling students realize the excitement and beauty of learning to write well in the subject areas they loved. As a high school member of the National Honors Society, I spent two years washington-dc">tutoring other students in English composition, which helped me decide to teach in the future. I am also a writing mentor for my area's FIRST Robotics team, helping high school students practice grant writing, design brochures, and create publicity materials.

I was trained to view education as a conversation between teacher and student. My primary goal as a washington-dc">tutor is to listen to my students. Frustration often arises when students aren't given the opportunity to articulate their concerns properly, which leads to the development of ineffective learning strategies. I always want students to understand that their concerns are being heard and addressed. I also aim to help students to learn to love their area of study. Students who are motivated by a love of the subject are more likely to seek help when they are struggling and to develop better coping strategies for frustration.