I am a 24 year old graduate of the College of William and Mary. I started taking French in junior high school when I was 13. I first went to France during the summer after my junior year of high school. I lived in Lyon for a month with a family and fell in love with the country. After my freshman year of college, I studied for a summer at a university in Montpellier and again lived with a local family. I then spent my entire junior year abroad, studying the first half of the year in Barcelona and the second half in Paris, at the Sorbonne. I graduated from William & Mary in 2007 and took a fellowship with the French government teaching English in a high school in the southwest of France from October 2007 until May 2008. During that time I also privately tutored German and Polish exchange students in French. I am currently working at the French Embassy for France Magazine.
During my time teaching last year I had a great time with the kids. High school is not too distant a memory for me, so I tried to have fun with them while learning at the same time. I know from personal experience that it does no good to be a monster to the students because they will only resent you for it. There is definitely a balance to be reached that can include both enjoyment and learning.