Fun Facts

Reading is one of my most engrossing pastimes. I enjoy the classics of modernist prose – especially the writings of Kafka and Dostoevsky – and am also an avid reader of science fiction, which I admire both for its tendency to pursue complex philosophical problems and for its value as pure entertainment. I am fascinated by movies both cult and canonical, and in my spare time am developing content for a video-blog of original film criticism. Though my academic studies have taken me in the direction of the arts and humanities, I continue to indulge my early interest in the natural sciences – particularly in biology – through volunteer work at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.

About Me

Though I spent most of my early life in Los Angeles, California, much of my extended family lives in and around San Antonio, and I have always considered this city a second home. I obtained my Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity University in December of 2011, having majored in German and Visual culture. I have a strong desire to share my interest in these subjects with others, and in the long term am considering a career in post-secondary education.

During my time at Trinity University, I frequently providing free, spontaneous instruction to my fellow students working to cultivate fundamental academic skills, particularly in the areas of writing and research. Through these experiences I developed valuable techniques for communicating complex information in accessible, engaging ways. By working with individuals sharing many of my own goals and academic experience, I developed a strong sense for the collaborative, reciprocal character of the tutoring process - an awareness that continues to inform my approach to teaching at all levels.

I treat learning as a participatory process, and make every effort to actively involve students in absorbing and understanding new knowledge. By asking students questions, allowing them to ask questions in return, and prompting them to think through problems independently, I seek to make every lesson an engaging, reciprocal experience rather than an un-involving, unilateral lecture. I make efforts to establish a firm grounding in each concept before moving ahead to the next, equipping students for success at each stage of the learning progress and giving them the necessary assurance to take on new intellectual challenges.