Late late night, early morn

It is now 'bout 4am and I am antsy and wide-awake...good thing I started a blog today. Since we are still in the getting-to-know-all-about-you stage, here is some further information on who I be.

Like previously mentioned, I lived in Bend, Oregon for a few years, but let's jump back to where it all started...I was born in Baltimore, Maryland but moved when my little sister was born and I was two years old. We (mom, dad, brother, new sis, and I) landed in Salisbury, Maryland and this became where we are from. This small town is just minutes away from Ocean City on Maryland's eastern shore. After graduating from Parkside High School, I started college at Salisbury University. I majored in English and ran cross country and track there with success. This success guided me away from home and to the University of Maryland.

As a "terp," I attained the perfect college major, American Studies, and the perfect athletic goal, running for a Division 1 college. My five semesters at U of MD were a wonderfully confusing learning experience. I was suddenly attending a school with more enrolled students than the population of my hometown but I knew only four people, and where I learned that we really are all alone in life. I learned about being "alone" and about "life" mostly because I was not entirely happy in College Park, Maryland and I had always been happy before. It was hard for us all when we first realized that unhappiness exists, right? Oh, but I met Aaron there and we found Keba when we escaped there together. After college we made the excellent decision to move to Oregon.

The years In Oregon are still vibrant and real, in fact, I return to Oregon every chance possible. Life in Oregon was ideal. I met most of my closest friends, learned to appreciate mother nature's splendor, and truly found harmony. Ironically, after harmony and I hang out for awhile I am often compelled to rock the boat. During this time we traveled and worked through South East Asia and, after years of harmonic Oregonic-splendor, I applied to grad schools on the east coast, just to rock the boat a bit more.

The application process was not too tedious and the easy decision was American University in Washington, D.C. I studied International Training and Education (coined ITEP) for two long years. I thoroughly enjoyed my graduate studies because of the intriguing people I met and the fact that I had to learn many new skills. Graduate school ended last May and the plan was to run away, quickly, from the city's buzz. However, those plans were flushed when I started working at Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School for Public Policy . This school has cultivated my career and sparked ambitious lifelong dreams. I started working at Chavez while still in grad school and haven't been able to pull away. I am now the ninth grade English teacher and Literacy Coach. More on my job soon (it deserves its own focused piece). But, back to me and who I be...In addition to where I live and what I do, I also care lots of my role as a human seeking harmony. And like you know, when harmony settles in, it will surely be time for sudden change!