I joined the History PhD cohort in the Fall of 2011, coming from teaching 11th grade U.S. and AP U.S. History in East Los Angeles for the past three years. In my last year of high school teaching I was named the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) Outstanding Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year, becoming the youngest ever to win this award. During my time in Los Angeles, I also worked for the Marcus Garvey and U.N.I.A. Papers Project (housed at UCLA), coached a team in the Urban Debate League, and served as a volunteer for "Cityhood for East LA," a community movement to bring municipal governance and local control to the currently unincorporated area. I was especially happy to be able to spend time with my sister Anya and nephew Octavio and proudly attended her college graduation in L.A.

Before teaching high school I studied at Oberlin College, Oxford University, and Brown University. The majority of my course work has been in History, Politics, and African American Studies (my two undergraduate majors and minor respectively). During my college days I particularly enjoyed the opportunities I had to work with young people, through mentoring as well as volunteering in local schools. I also worked my way through college and graduate school as a student janitor, building monitor, and in restaurants and bars. 

Before beginning my undergraduate career I attended high school in the Mission district of San Francisco. Although I lived several places before that, I cherish the time I spent in the Bay Area and it is, along with New Orleans, among my favorite places to be. Incidently, I now have two cats named San Francisco and Princess NOLA - go figure.  

Thanks for taking time to read my page. I have posted a link to my other website, a digital teaching portfolio, if you want to check it out and will be updating this site as time goes on.