The Journey

Here I am on my first day teaching at Inderkum in August last year.

I am a first year English teacher.  I teach five classes of 11th grade AP English Language and Composition at Inderkum High School.  As a first year teacher I have so much to learn, but I am enjoying my classes so much.  I love teaching American literature, and I love working with the extremely diverse group of students in my school.  I learn a lot from them.  

I am supposed to tell you why I chose teaching.  I come from a family of teachers, my grandpa taught drama in high school, my grandma taught elementary school, my mom taught elementary school, and my sister even taught fifth grade for a while.  I am sure that family tradition had something to do with my looking into it.  Since high school, I have been a great fan of literature.  I became obsessed with Leo Tolstoy in high school and college and even minored in Russian.  I graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature from Brigham Young University and an MA in Comparative Studies from Ohio State University.  I taught undergraduates for a couple of years at Ohio State while I worked on my graduate studies.  

The incomparable Leo Tolstoy, my favorite author

I always knew I wanted to do something where I got to work with my passion - literature.  I originally planned on getting a PhD and teaching college, but the further I went in my graduate work the less interested I was in that prospect.  I loved doing the research, but I felt like I was reading commentaries on commentaries rather than the original works I loved.  I realized I love working with people and introducing them to the classics I loved.  The high school context seems much more exciting to me than working with more experienced students.  

My sons

I eventually became a mom to two wonderful boys, and that has been my focus for years as a stay at home mom.  I also worked part time as a tutor to help high school students.  Last year I knew it was time to start working on becoming a credentialed teacher.  I started school at National and applied and got my first high school teaching job at Inderkum.  I am learning so much this year and hope to become a better teacher in each year of the future.  But I am very sure I am in the right place for me. 

I love working with students, helping them learn new things, and being a part of their lives at such a pivotal time for them.  My juniors are just deciding where they want to apply to college and feeling all those pressures of the future ahead of them.  I love working with them and introducing them to texts like The Great Gatsby or a Frederick Douglass speech.  Most of theme are experiencing this greatness for the first time, and even if they don't share my obsession, they can learn to appreciate them.  It's a great job.