Year started at PC: 2022

Subjects you teach: English

Degrees:
MA in English Language & Literature, University of Washington – Seattle
Magna Cum Laude, Top Scholar Graduate Fellow in English, Emerging Scholar in New Directions in the Humanities

BA in English Language & Literature, Comparative History of Idea, University of Washington – Seattle
Magna Cum Laude, McNair, Fulbright Scholar, UW College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Medalist in the Humanities


Relevant Work Experience:

ELA Middle School Teacher | AMSPA (2020-2021)
Christian Nonprofit Leader | TRINICY (2018-Present)
English College Lecturer | UW-Seattle (2016-2017), MSU-Starkville (2017-2018), GCU-Phoenix (2022)
High School ESL Teacher |U.S. Department of State, Fulbright Program, South Korea (2013-2015)
College Instructor | UW-Seattle (2010-2013)


Why Phoenix Christian?
All my life, I have attended public, secular institutions of learning as a student and as a teacher. Even though I have excelled in the various roles God has allowed me to have, I have never experienced the freedom of being able to openly proclaim the most important thing about me: my faith in Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and Savior. At Phoenix Christian, I was offered and invited to partake in this freedom, and I am so excited to do so!
I have hidden my Christian worldview before out of fear of man, out of fear of rejection, out of fear of not receiving the grade or compensation my work deserved, and I have suffered greatly from regret over the missed opportunities to positively influence and impact my environment boldly for Christ. As I have grown in my faith and in my knowledge of the Word of God, I long even more to use the gifts, talents, and opportunities God continuously gives me to share the good news – especially in the context of education, where students and teachers are often silenced, ridiculed, and dismissed for their Bible-based Christian worldview. Education continues to be a major spiritual battleground, where there is an active, ongoing, and strategic attack on truth by the accredited and credentialed presentation of anti-truth.
I want to work in Phoenix Christian because I am excited to fully bring my whole self, for the very first time, in a professional and academic setting. It would be extremely exciting to work with like-minded and like-hearted colleagues and to work under the guidance of instructional leaders who I know are operating the school and stewarding their staff and scholars with godly wisdom. Furthermore, I would absolutely cherish the opportunity to engage, inspire, and, of course, educate young students – both Christians and non-Christians – who are curious about making the most of their learning, leading, and living as Christian ambassadors in and outside of the classroom.

List a favorite quote (with attribution)

“There are no words to express the abyss between isolation and having one ally. It may be conceded to the mathematician that four is twice two. But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one.”

– Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton, English writer, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, biographer, literary & art critic, and lay theologian

This quote is one of my favorites because it speaks directly and profoundly to the reality of the intellectual, social, and spiritual isolation I felt while studying as a student and teaching as a scholar in secular institutions. I longed for that one friend who was also a Christian. God answered my prayer, and, when the sense of isolation didn’t leave, I learned to pray more specifically for a Bible-believing Christian friend.

I have always been passionate about education, but my experience in higher ed not only compelled me to see the great need to provide support for Christian students but also propelled me to start a nonprofit organization specifically to do just that: provide a Christian Mentor for every Christian Student! We help ensure that students who feel isolated and alone are able to find that one ally and are able to experience the truth in Chesterton’s words that “two is not twice one” but “two thousand times one.” That is the power of Christian fellowship and, as a Christ-follower who happens to be an educator, I want to do my best to help facilitate such connections.