In two to four sentences, describe your post-Biola work/life journey.

About two weeks after graduating from Biola, I moved to Chicago to participate in an alternative teaching certification program called Teach for America that places teachers in low-income communities. Through the program, I received my masters in Special Education and began teaching at a Chicago Public School on the west side, where I have remained for the past three years. This year we're participating in Special Olympics and I'm helping establish a school garden. I have a cat named Cleo and I bike everywhere (when it's not freezing). This summer I'm getting married to another teacher I met through my grad school classes.

What's your current occupation, and in what ways did getting a degree in English prepare you for your job?

I teach Special Education for 3-6th graders. My class of students with moderate intellectual disabilities, autism, and other health impairments focuses on social skills, functional academics, early literacy, and foundational math. To be frank, I'm convinced that nothing I did prior to starting this position could have truly prepared me for it. Yet my undergrad in English has been profoundly useful in keeping my mind and soul centered. Each day on the bus to and from work I read and attempt to ground myself in stories, poetry, and art. My English degree, and particularly my writing classes, taught me the importance of living creatively, even when you're job doesn't particularly lend itself to creative expression. We've even done a little bit of poetry writing with my kids (they're the best at free verse)! I'm also currently adapting the Harry Potter books to a reading level my students can understand, which I guess counts as creative writing!

What was a favorite class or experience you had while a Biola English major?

Vision Voice and Practice, led by Chris Davidson and Dan Callis was hands-down, two thumbs up, my favorite class. Even though it was heartbreakingly early in the morning, we always had the most engaging discussions, assignments, and projects that allowed space for the integration of art and writing. I spent that semester writing poems constructed entirely out of found book titles. I learned the frustration, beauty, and necessity of self-imposed restrictions in both art and life.

What about life after college was most surprising to you?

I found it surprising how much I missed being intellectually stimulated, and how hard that is to do without a community that has been essentially and artificially constructed to do that within. Although my job has never been and never will be boring, the mundane motions of daily life can still really get to you. Teaching students their letter sounds is not always as exciting as analyzing post-modern literature. I've had to be very intentional about seeking out and establishing patterns that disrupt the repetitive nature of my daily life and force me to analyze and engage critically with the world around me.

What advice would you give to a current Biolan majoring in English? Or what's something you did in college that later helped you professionally?

Be open to opportunities even if they don't make sense at the time. Have a plan but hold it loosely. Don't expect to absolutely love your job. Establish good self-care patterns and habits, whatever that means for you. Seek out relationships and connections with people who are different from you. Be aware of your privileges, current events, and your role in disrupting oppression, and inequality.

What are you reading?

I just finished 1Q84 by Murakami. Now I’m reading From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and am slowly working my way through Karl Marx's Capital with some friends.