I currently attend National University (NU), pursuing a Master’s degree in Education.
After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. in Biology, I earned a M.S. in Information Technology (IT) Management from Trident University International and served for 7 years as a Cyberspace Operations Officer in the military, and then led as an IT Program Manager for 3 years at Blizzard Entertainment.
I am pursuing a single subject teaching credential for Life Science in California with the intent to teach in high school. This specific age group interests me because it is a time when children have some of the greatest opportunities to open doors to colleges and careers, and I’d like to offer my full support to our future leaders. I believe anyone can and should lead at their level, and I aim to support everyone to become a leader with character!
My interest in teaching began when coaching volleyball at the high schools and private clubs near my various workplaces. I also tested that interest by teaching CPR, suicide prevention, and sexual assault prevention and response to my brothers and sisters in the military. Leading and inspiring teams to take care of business while building great relationships has stoked a fire of passion in me for learning and helping others to learn. I’ve found that facilitating discussions and developing knowledge and skills with others has always brought me a great level of fulfillment. Now I’m seeking to strengthen our country and the world by helping our youth determine productive life goals, build plans to achieve them, and provide support for their success in and out of the classroom.
Education Philosophy
I aim to develop students to become productive members of society commensurate with their talents and abilities.
Leadership Style
I practice servant leadership, focusing on the needs and success of the people that work with and for me. I adopted this style during my time as an officer in the Air Force, and the more I have acted from a platform of genuine concern for individual people, the greater success I’ve enjoyed with teams, units, and classrooms that I’ve led or participated in. As a teacher, coach, and parent, I will continue working to recognize what students, players, and my children need to be productive in the long term.
Personality and Learning Profile
I’ve taken a variety of personality tests, and while the results have slightly changed over the years based on my experience and the state of affairs at those points in time, I have generally hovered near the middle, and have been able to adopt traits as the situation calls for. Throughout my life I’ve been able to make positive connections with most people, and to genuinely have fun with groups of people sharing a wide array of interests. I love learning and trying new things, and I am open to change my mind about my views based on reasonable discussion and fact. As a leader, I focus on using my ability to make initial connections and leveraging that to help students make broader and deeper connections between course content and their lives.
I find ways to connect content to my personal life and interests through a variety of mediums. I have a tendency to be reflective, thinking before acting, sometimes to a fault. As a teacher, coach, and parent, I benefit when I make an extra effort to plan for contingencies and problems so that I can handle important crises and common issues quickly, having already thought about or rehearsed my response.
Why am I writing a blog?
- Because I find new resources as an educator and leader that I evaluate and integrate into my toolkit, and I want to share and discuss my learning with a broader community of teachers, coaches, and parents
- Because it will help me forge and document key lessons and strategies for future reference
What will I write about?
- I will focus my writing on what I learn related to education and leadership
- I would love to connect with fellow teachers, coaches, parents, and members of professions that use the transferable skills and knowledge I aim to discuss in this blog.
- If I blog successfully throughout the next year, I hope to have researched and shared a useful tip related to education or leadership at least once per week, and to have captured some input and enhancements to my posts from others.
Intelligent Design 