My German journey started at AC Flora High School, where I completed German 3 under Janelle Bondor and knew I wanted to keep up with German in college. I studied German language and literature at USC, alongside a few courses in European History. I graduated Cum Laude in 2010. My masters studies brought more work in literature and linguistics, as well as a focus on language pedagogy, and I earned my MAT in Foreign Language Education in 2016 following internships at Deerfield Elementary and River Bluff High School. I found myself back at Deerfield in 2018 after two years teaching German 1-4/IB at Richland Northeast High School.
My two years in Germany were split between USC's year-long exchange in Bamberg in 2009-10, and a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship in Hildesheim in 2014-15, which also included a month stay with a host family near Halle (Saale). On top of seeing incredible sights, learning how to fend for myself in a new culture, and making great friends, my time in Germany shaped my teaching aspirations and motivation: To give others the keys to growing and expanding their horizons as my German teachers did for me. My life is pretty quiet- once you take out the race cars. I usually spend my nights and weekends cooking curry, tacos, tofu, or curried tofu tacos; enjoying computer games, reading about history, hobbits, or ecology; and helping support my girlfriend as she pursues a PhD in community psychology. I do get out from time to time- sometimes to volunteer at a park or motorsports event, going to football and baseball games, other times just going for a hike or playing frisbee in the park. |
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