I fell in love with the subject of history when I was a sophomore in high school and that love has guided my professional development for the last 25 years. As much as I enjoy reading, researching and learning about events in the past, it is really the teaching that captivates me - the act of crafting lesson plans that inspire and engage. I have spent the last 18 years in the classroom, as a history teacher, writing mentor, advisor and college counselor. I taught history at the Pingree School in Massachusetts and as a teaching assistant at Brown University in Rhode Island before moving to Drew School in San Francisco, where I have spent the last 11 years. At Drew, I taught history, English and served as a college counselor. I love being an educator, and appreciate all of the big and small moments that come with it — prepping for an interesting class, thinking about how to best present material, working with students on their college essays, laughing with students after a particularly funny assembly, celebrating with them when they do well on an assignment or meeting with my kids outside of classes to help them achieve mastery of their subject. I feel excited and lucky to begin work as an academic mentor and writing coach.