My Own History
My life's passion is learning. I especially love learning about the amazingly diverse peoples and cultures of our world. From an early age, I became a curious explorer of our world. My mother was an artist and she instilled in me a love for creativity and creative thinking. My father was a scientist who taught me how to ask tough questions and think critically about the answers I found. I became obsessed with books at a young age and have been on many adventures in the pages of these stories. I love travel and have lived in and explored many of the corners of our beautiful planet. For fun, I love to play and adventure in the outdoors with my friends and family. My newest obsession is ziplining! I also spend a lot of time reading, writing and taking taking pictures. My biggest goals in life are to spread joy and stay curious. I live here in the Conejo Valley with my husband, two amazing sons (ages 13 and 16) and two french bulldogs.
My professional BAckground
• I earned my BA degree in Marketing and English from the University of Oregon and then Washington State University.
• After college, I worked and played in the field of advertising for 15 exciting years. For most of my career, I worked as a
strategic planner studying consumer trends and developing marketing and creative strategies for existing and emerging
industries. During this time in advertising, I also earned an MBA from California Lutheran University. As a consumer researcher,
I travelled all around the country talking to people and understanding the way people lived, dreamed and worked. This
experience led me directly into my next life adventure.
•. In 2002, I left my career in advertising and embarked on a new adventure in academia. I knew I wanted to dig deeper into
understanding human culture and human history. I spent five amazing years at The University of California, Santa Barbara
(UCSB) both as a graduate student in the Cultural Anthropology Doctoral Program and as a lecturer. During this time, I
earned a Masters in Cultural Anthropology. I also taught classes in Cultural Anthropology, Asian American Studies, Global
Studies and Media Studies.
I discovered my life's passion in my classrooms with all of my wonderful students. I love being a teacher because I get to share my passion for ideas with my students ~ all the while learning from my students at the same time. The classroom is a perfect place for someone who is an inspired life learner.
• While I loved working with college students, I started to work more with younger students and knew that I wanted to shift to
teaching in the middle school setting because I believed I could have a greater impact. I absolutely love this age group of
students. I went back to school (yes, again!) and earned my Masters in Education with a Technology Specialization.
From all these experiences, I've come to realize that inspiring creative learning is at the center of my core values. It is the how, the why and the everything for me. I might be a little bit of a dreamer, but I believe with all my heart that education will save the world ~ so I am here to do my part.
• After college, I worked and played in the field of advertising for 15 exciting years. For most of my career, I worked as a
strategic planner studying consumer trends and developing marketing and creative strategies for existing and emerging
industries. During this time in advertising, I also earned an MBA from California Lutheran University. As a consumer researcher,
I travelled all around the country talking to people and understanding the way people lived, dreamed and worked. This
experience led me directly into my next life adventure.
•. In 2002, I left my career in advertising and embarked on a new adventure in academia. I knew I wanted to dig deeper into
understanding human culture and human history. I spent five amazing years at The University of California, Santa Barbara
(UCSB) both as a graduate student in the Cultural Anthropology Doctoral Program and as a lecturer. During this time, I
earned a Masters in Cultural Anthropology. I also taught classes in Cultural Anthropology, Asian American Studies, Global
Studies and Media Studies.
I discovered my life's passion in my classrooms with all of my wonderful students. I love being a teacher because I get to share my passion for ideas with my students ~ all the while learning from my students at the same time. The classroom is a perfect place for someone who is an inspired life learner.
• While I loved working with college students, I started to work more with younger students and knew that I wanted to shift to
teaching in the middle school setting because I believed I could have a greater impact. I absolutely love this age group of
students. I went back to school (yes, again!) and earned my Masters in Education with a Technology Specialization.
From all these experiences, I've come to realize that inspiring creative learning is at the center of my core values. It is the how, the why and the everything for me. I might be a little bit of a dreamer, but I believe with all my heart that education will save the world ~ so I am here to do my part.