Biography

“Bay Area born and raised, I earned my BA in English and psychology from UC Davis. Even as a student, I was fascinated by each professor’s pedagogy. What are the most successful techniques to bridge the gap between instructors and their students? By what means does the human brain absorb, consolidate, and apply incoming information and skill sets? How do motivation, stress levels, and social experiences improve or interfere with that?

After pivoting from clinical psychology to education, I began tutoring with a focus on guiding seniors through their college application essays, and over the next five years expanded into tutoring AP courses, rhetoric, grammar, and SAT/ACT.

There’s an incredible range of vital skills that English classes hone: written expression, communications, research, ethics, self-awareness, empathy, even an introductory approach to psychology, philosophy, and sociology. At the same time, tutoring students for the SAT and ACT gave me the great opportunity to return to my roots as a math person; I love helping students integrate logical reasoning with test-taking techniques to translate intimidating test questions into recognizable math.

The beauty of individual tutoring lies in creativity and personal support. It allows us to meet any student where they are now, build a roadmap specific to their needs, and adjust from there. I always strive to inspire my students to cultivate their own growth beyond the classroom. What are their goals? Who do they want to become? With these questions in mind, we set a path forward together.

In other news, I develop recipes instead of baking them, play video games on casual mode, and chase my extremely silly cat. My favorite sport to watch is figure skating, and I am the kind of person who watches video essays analyzing movies and shows I’ve never seen.”