Undergrad Education:
I’m a product of the wonderful state education system we have in California. I attended Palomar and Mira Costa Communities Colleges in San Diego; then transferred to CSU San Marcos for my BA in Literature.
Graduate Education:
After Cal State, I was accepted into the Literature Department at UC, San Diego where I earned my MA and my PhD in Literature. My field is Composition Studies.
1. What inspired you to go into teaching?
Not one specific incident or person, but a desire to communicate with and somehow help people.
2. Who is someone that motivated you? Why?
One of my aunts that my family called Big Auntie. She wasn’t big in size, but she was the eldest of nine children and the bossiest. Big Auntie once told me a story about two men – a samurai warrior and a teacher. People respected both men, but they respected the teacher more because of his work. The moral of the story was that education was the most important tool or weapon a person could possess. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized this probably wasn’t a true story, but a story with a purpose. It seems to have stuck!
3. If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or deceased, it would it be and why?
Most people would probably chose famous people like Einstein, Mother Theresa, or Elvis. But the person I would most like to have dinner with is my mother who died when I was three. She met and married my father in her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii. And I would have my daughters and husband to dinner too because they never had the chance to meet her. It would be really interesting to include my great, great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was Cherokee and I can only imagine the conversations my mother and she might have had about ethnicity, racism, matriarchy, and more.
4. What is your favorite book?
Hard question – I have so many!
5. Tell me the worst excuse you have ever gotten from a student.
Something to do with Sun God, college night in Tijuana … you get the picture.
6. What could a student do to impress you?
Be genuinely interested in thinking and learning. And demonstrating kindness.
7. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
All kinds of things. Reading, gardening, snow skiing, water skiing, playing with my dog, visiting with my family, and eating really, really good food!
