I was born and raised on the North Shore in beautiful British Columbia. When I’m not in school or at work, you can find me in the mountains hiking, biking, camping, snowboarding or skiing. I love the outdoors and find peace and solitude in the wilderness. Another passion for me is in the Arts. I dabble in sculpture, painting, welding, designing and building furniture. When I travel, I love to soak in the culture by gallery hopping and eating local cuisine. I am interested in other cultures and the way people live and communicate. Of course, I may also bring my bike or snowboard to explore new territory when I am jet setting. My family calls me a professional student, but I am ready to put that aside (for now) and begin a new chapter in my life.
It has taken me a while to get where I am and it has been a process of self-discovery. Since my first Linguistics course in University, I became fascinated with the way languages work. Looking at other languages around the world and figuring out how they function became challenging puzzles for me to figure out. I reveled in the complexities of syntax, found humour in semantics, and was puzzled by all the exceptions to the rules of phonology and morphology. The most exciting for me was phonetics as I could write any language in to a phonetic script. The sounds of each language were broken down and analyzed.
After my undergraduate degree in Linguistics, I realized that there isn’t any career outside of academia where I could use these skills. I had thought about being a Speech Language Therapist but it never came in to fruition. A friend of mine who works in the school district had told me about the need for Itinerant Teachers for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in British Columbia. The career path sounded very specialized and exotic to me. It contains the speech aspect that I originally was was interested in but also much more. I felt this career choice will be complex, challenging and is well suited for my personality. It ties in all of my education in Linguistics, Developmental Psychology and Education as well as my working practice in the school board as a Special Education Aide. It was a natural progression to blend all my experiences, education, work and practice.
Throughout this M.Ed. program, I learned about the absence or lack or full access to language for students who are Dhh. This program is the missing link to everything I had learned in Linguistics about first and second language acquisition, grammar, syntax, morphology and phonetics. Everything I learned about teaching reading, writing, expressive and receptive language was turned upside down. There were gaps in my understanding and now it seems that I have a much fuller appreciation of how language works. My knowledge now seems more complete and well rounded.
I recently have been hired on as a Hearing Resource Teacher (HRT) for the West Vancouver School District. There is a small population of students who are hard of hearing leaving me the only HRT for the district. This will be a major challenge for me but I know that I have lots of support from the friends I made in the cohort, my professors, Dr. Janet Jamieson and Dr. Joanna Cannon, and the invaluable team of school associates I had the opportunity to work with during my practicums. Thank you all who have been beside me the whole way through! I appreciate all the knowledge, support and encouragement you have given me. I know I will learn and continue to grow alongside all the members of this great community.
I would also like to acknowledge all the wonderful people in my life including my family, friends and acquaintances that continually inspire me. You all know who you are and have heard me tell you how much I appreciate you. Thank you for all the love and support!
Bests to everyone!
It has taken me a while to get where I am and it has been a process of self-discovery. Since my first Linguistics course in University, I became fascinated with the way languages work. Looking at other languages around the world and figuring out how they function became challenging puzzles for me to figure out. I reveled in the complexities of syntax, found humour in semantics, and was puzzled by all the exceptions to the rules of phonology and morphology. The most exciting for me was phonetics as I could write any language in to a phonetic script. The sounds of each language were broken down and analyzed.
After my undergraduate degree in Linguistics, I realized that there isn’t any career outside of academia where I could use these skills. I had thought about being a Speech Language Therapist but it never came in to fruition. A friend of mine who works in the school district had told me about the need for Itinerant Teachers for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in British Columbia. The career path sounded very specialized and exotic to me. It contains the speech aspect that I originally was was interested in but also much more. I felt this career choice will be complex, challenging and is well suited for my personality. It ties in all of my education in Linguistics, Developmental Psychology and Education as well as my working practice in the school board as a Special Education Aide. It was a natural progression to blend all my experiences, education, work and practice.
Throughout this M.Ed. program, I learned about the absence or lack or full access to language for students who are Dhh. This program is the missing link to everything I had learned in Linguistics about first and second language acquisition, grammar, syntax, morphology and phonetics. Everything I learned about teaching reading, writing, expressive and receptive language was turned upside down. There were gaps in my understanding and now it seems that I have a much fuller appreciation of how language works. My knowledge now seems more complete and well rounded.
I recently have been hired on as a Hearing Resource Teacher (HRT) for the West Vancouver School District. There is a small population of students who are hard of hearing leaving me the only HRT for the district. This will be a major challenge for me but I know that I have lots of support from the friends I made in the cohort, my professors, Dr. Janet Jamieson and Dr. Joanna Cannon, and the invaluable team of school associates I had the opportunity to work with during my practicums. Thank you all who have been beside me the whole way through! I appreciate all the knowledge, support and encouragement you have given me. I know I will learn and continue to grow alongside all the members of this great community.
I would also like to acknowledge all the wonderful people in my life including my family, friends and acquaintances that continually inspire me. You all know who you are and have heard me tell you how much I appreciate you. Thank you for all the love and support!
Bests to everyone!