What is your current job and why did you choose this profession?
I just completed a Fulbright grant teaching English in Tenerife, Spain. I taught PreK-Sixth Grade English at the largest public school in the Canary Islands. It was an incredible growth experience; I was able to improve my Spanish language skills, hone my teaching pedagogy, improve my leadership and mentorship skills by coaching other English teachers and providing English lessons, and get deeply involved in the Erasmus+ program, supporting an exchange of language and culture between Sixth Graders at my school (CEIP Juan Garcia Perez) and students from other schools around the European Union (Poland, Italy, Portugal, etc.).
After graduating from Haverford, I worked as a communication and brand strategist at fellow Haverford alum John Berg's full-suite creative agency, Swirl in the Presidio of San Francisco. I gained critical business skills and valuable experience working on a dynamic, cross-functional Product Team, engaging daily with strategists, account managers, UX/UI designers, engineers, and creatives. It was a very expansive experience, and I enjoyed being in the world of tech, but I felt a call to more deeply align my work with my values/ideals honed through my K-12 Quaker education and my experience studying PJHR at Haverford. I decided to apply for Teach for America and was placed in New York City, where I taught Universal PreK for two years and then continued teaching First Grade for another two years in Brooklyn. Teaching in the New York City public school system was incredibly demanding work, and after the pandemic, we as teachers had huge learning and social-emotional gaps to address, particularly among students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Though challenging, this experience forced me to push myself and grow as an educator. I learned to use data-driven decision-making to address gaps in math and reading among my students, conducting data analyses and accordingly implementing targeted interventions. By using data to drive decisions about my instruction, I was able to ensure that all of my students received targeted support tailored to their specific needs, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and effective learning environment, which is why I became a teacher in the first place!
I am very proud of my accomplishments in the classroom. I formed many deep and lasting connections with students, families, and fellow-teachers, and though I am no longer in Brooklyn, I am excited to see my students continue to grow from afar. As I said, teaching is incredibly demanding (emotionally, physically, intellectually), but at the end of the day, it is immensely rewarding. Working in schools, I gained incredible skills in communication, organization, planning, problem-solving, and project management. I think compared to teaching PreK, having to teach PreK through the pandemic, and then teaching First Grade post-pandemic, any task placed in front of me will be easy by comparison! I jest, but all is to say, teaching developed in me the confidence to exectute any task and lead with thoughtfulness, empathy, and the belief that anyone is capable of learning anything!
What more do you wish to accomplish in your professional career?
As I return to the United States, and after five years in the classroom, I hope to take the transferable skills I honed as an educator and teacher coach to transition into a Project or Product Manager position within the Ed Tech space. I used so many valuable Ed Tech products in my classrooms, and I think I could contribute a lot of valuable perspective and knowledge to a team building products for young learners. I love to think about the big picture and brainstorm/day dream solutions to big problems/challenges, but I am also very detail-oriented and love to collaborate on dynamic teams. I would love to combine what I learned in the tech industry in my first job out of college with all I've learned as an educator over the past five years to continue addressing educational inequities and improving educational experiences.
Moreover, I hope to continue having the type of cross-cultural exchanges that challenge my world view and push me out of my comfort zone as I did in both New York City and the Canary Islands. The discomfort/challenge/unfamiliar is where the growth truly happens! My time teaching and then being abroad made me more confident and self-assured, and it has immensely expanded my perspective about, well, just about everything!
Tell us about a decision or change you made that turned out to be a positive career move or life change.
I'm learning that there is no perfect opportunity or job out there. You have to stay curious, open-minded, and take the best opportunity that's presented to you and keep pivoting and trying out new things-- that's what it's all about! Learning, experimenting, growing. What skills do you want to hone? What kind of people do you want to work with? What is something you'd like to learn more about?Deciding to go abroad was an incredibly positive life change-- I got to see how an entirely different school system functions, experience an entirely different culture, befriend people from all over the world, engage in some of my favorite hobbies (open-water swimming, hiking, traveling, playing tennis and padel, speaking Spanish) and now I can bring this knowledge back with me to the States to help maximize the joy in my personal life and help an organization develp and grow as well!
As I approach the next stage in my career, I am trying to find a good balance between doing well and doing good... I think this is something we as Haverfordians all strive toward.
What sort of service activities do you enjoy/philanthropic causes do you support, and why?
Educational equity! Every child deserves the chance to learn regardless of their location or circumstances. Learning is fun, and anyone is capable of learning anything!
How has Haverford (or Haverford values) figured into your life?
The key tenants of Quakerism have been a part of my life since I was 5-years-old and attending the William Penn Charter school in Philadelphia. Quakerism and the Quaker values are a large reason I ultimately decided to go to Haverford: the committment to community, integrity, equity, and of course, community service. I am still passionate about service-learning and always try to incorporate community-perspectives and social justice into my classrooms.
What advice would you give to those interested in doing what you do, either professionally or with respect to your service/philanthropy?
Don't be afraid to reach out to people and have conversations! People are more often than not willing to help in some way.
Got any leadership advice? Words of wisdom born of experience?
Share your gifts with the world, but also be willing to learn from and be taught by people around you.