To make a difference in the world: be the change you want to see. I want to be the teacher that makes kids feel seen, gives kids chances when they feel lost and forgotten, gives kids hope when they feel hopeless. I try to be the type of teacher that I hope my children have: someone positive, encouraging, dedicated to their craft and kids. I hope to help better prepare my students for the real world and better humans when they get there.

It was the day after I got back from being out for the day. I had an anonymous handwritten note from a student on my desk. In the note, the student explained that I was their reason why they were alive. They had planned to commit suicide one day after school, but that day, I had greeted them at the door by name before class, asked them how they were doing, and kept them engaged during that. They said they had felt so invisible & alone but I made them feel seen. We still keep in touch years after

I have a few things: pay off medical debt that has been haunting us, rebuild our savings because we have been living paycheck to paycheck and out of savings for the past 2 years, and take a family vacation to make memories with the people that fuel me to be my best everyday.