Q & A
What is your most memorable experience from teaching in the corps?
One of my first students was in a gang. He was always using gang signs and was on track to be suspended. I chose to give him affection, to hug him, pinch his cheeks. You could see he just needed those things. Four years later he found me on Facebook to tell me he graduated.
How did your corps experience influence your career path?
I thought teaching was going to be a stop-over to doing something else. But my calling is to invest and motivate students. I taught at my TFA school for three years, then easily got into a teaching abroad program because I was TFA. I’ve been able to connect with and help so many people.
What are the most important skills you learned in the corps?
Institute really set me up for anything. Learning how to backwards plan, to set a big goal and develop a plan to get there. And knowing how to apply strong principles of teaching and also be myself, and utilize my natural strengths to connect with, motivate, and invest people.