Although you might meet me on a course that you don't want to take (but have to), I'm confident I can show you just how relevant and exciting English can be. My passion for English literature and language was developed during my undergraduate studies at UCSB and the University of Leeds (UK), my MA studies at LMU, and my PhD studies at the University of London (UK), and it has become my professional and personal goal since I began teaching in 2004 to help my students harness the power of written expression. When I'm not prepping lessons or grading essays (which I love to do, by the way), I'm devouring fiction, fantasy, and dystopian literature in print and film (The Sun Is Also A Star, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, His Dark Materials), studies about educational inequities and injustices (Most Likely to Succeed, The Years that Matter Most, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain), and memoirs (Phuk Tran's Sigh, Gone; Tara Westover's Educated; Michelle Obama's Becoming).
I'm not just a bookworm, though. I revel in analyzing Disney films (Monster's University, Zootopia, Moana, Coco, Frozen II, and Soul) are my current favorites), hanging out with my two daughters and stepdaughter, watching "90-Day Fiancee," "Total Wipeout," "Gavin and Stacy," "All American," and "AFV" with my husband, and training our cockapoo puppy to be a good citizen like her big brother, Chaucer Boy is (fun fact: we just had his genetics tested and he is NOTHING that we thought he was for the past 15 years!). I strengthen my mind and body with walking and kickboxing, something I've done on-and-off for a number of years and recommitted to in 2018; my favorite combination is a spinning back-fist into a round-house kick. And, I do have some guilty pleasures: People Magazine, every version of America's Next Top Model, and 102.7 KIIS FM radio (I love Ryan Seacrest!).