|
I recently finished my MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California-Riverside. Focusing on playwriting and community-based theater, I taught beginning and intermediate composition and acting to undergraduates at UCR. My previous academic training includes an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Brown University. My focus in both programs was community education and leadership. In between these degrees, I served as coordinator of the Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College, worked as a community liaison and adjunct instructor for Occidental College in Los Angeles, and honed my teaching skills through work with the Teton Science School, the YMCA, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. I enjoy the strong community connections in Durango, along with hiking, cross-country skiing, and ultimate frisbee.
|
Why i work in public education - I work in public education because it allows me to feel connected to other people and to nature. I say “connected other people” because teaching and supporting young people feels essential to my identity as a human being; it feels DNA deep. I say “connected to nature” because when I see a young person’s authentic, wild identity uncorking and spiraling outward, it seems to me as organic as melting snow feeding rivers or seeds cracking their case and taking root. There is a continuity that comes from teaching: an authentic teacher helping a student know and express their authentic self, who is then able to recognize and fight for the authenticity of other beings and the larger web of life. Teaching embeds me within the continuity of life, defeating death, and helping me discover joy. I believe in public education because this process of personal expression and empowerment belongs to everyone. Everyone matters. Everyone is beautiful.