My trajectory may have always been aimed towards education as a result of being raised by two career teachers, but as a child I wouldn't have envisioned it. Growing up in a blue collar neighborhood, I attended public schools until high school, when I had the privilege of attending the private school where my father taught. My path towards college acceptance, a stable career, and a solid life was fomented via engaging teachers in a constructive school climate while many of my closest friends from childhood struggled to graduate high school. The disparity of opportunity struck by the different schools my childhood friends and I went to has always stuck with me and motivated me, even as an adult.

After graduating from Saint Louis University in 2005, I moved to Taiwan for a year and taught English as a second language to children from ages 2-7. My experience teaching young children was incredibly rewarding. Teaching in Taiwan also provided me with a hands-on understanding of how education is approached abroad as compared to within the United States.

This fall, I will be entering my third year teaching at Ballou High School in southeast Washington, D.C. I teach at a school, and in a neighborhood, that is known to have problems attributed to local socioeconomics rooted in poverty. However there are also incredible and inspiring students who motivate me to come to work every day and work as hard as I can for them. In my short time at Ballou, I have worn as many different hats as possible. In the spring of my first year, I started an after-school Capoeira program, and when I saw how much the program benefited the young men that participated, I decided to start a boy's varsity soccer team the next fall. I am also currently working to help my school achieve accreditation, have been voted by my colleagues to represent them in the Washington Teacher's Union, and am spending this summer trying to gather and organize resources to renovate my school's library. Still, my biggest source of pride has been my work in the classroom. I have had the privilege of teaching A.P. U.S. History for two years and have been able to grow the program from four students to the thirty-nine who have chosen to enroll next year.

My primary focus as both an educator and as a Fellow this year is to explore and, in turn, help disseminate innovative ways to improve urban and in-need schools. As a teacher at one of these schools, I have seen the challenges they face firsthand, as well as the consequences of effective versus ineffective federal and local policies. I am steadfast in my belief that federal and local policy can be used to drive ingenuity in the direction of reforming our school system. I would love to play a role in returning education to its place as the great equalizer in our nation.