When I moved to the Bay Area, nearly five years ago, it was with the intention of total immersion in a community in which I would consistently be challenged through the very act of engagement - so much so that there would be little or no difference between my "life" and my "work." In that time I have received two Master's Degrees, achieved an intermediate knowledge in one of the most difficult languages to learn, and completed a long list of literary projects. I am now hoping to continue the work I began on the page by focusing on young adult education.
Last summer I was invited to lead a writing workshop for a class of teenage girls of a wide range of economic backgrounds at Mills College. This experience - entering the space with my own delight for language and its possibilities and watching that excitement spread - cemented my desire to educate. I began tutoring for the SAT shortly after, and the gratification that experience brought continues to amaze me.
I have a Master's Degree in English and an MFA in Creative Writing, both from San Francisco State University. I am currently continuing to focus on my studies in Arabic and Spanish and will be applying for PhD programs in English Literature next year. I consider myself both student and teacher, both professional and perpetual pupil: and I think each of these is critical to truly fulfilling the role of a tutor. Beyond my educational experiences, as listed in my CV, my experiences as editorial assistant and as building manager have taught me a critical kind of relation-development, especially as they've required problem-solving in very personal and personalized spaces. My experience as a graduate student, in which I held multiple jobs contemporaneously while giving papers at professional conferences, has taught me to balance projects and deadlines in a graceful and efficacious manner. My experiences as a newspaper and magazine editor and publisher, coupled with those as a tutor, have instilled confidence in my ability to guide, suggest, and nurture; and my experience as an editorial assistant and as coordinator for various reading series have contributed to my belief in the necessity of communities working for the causes of other communities.