I was born and raised in California, being brought up in the medium-sized town of Downey.  After high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life (marine biologist?  actress?  writer?  teacher?), so I enrolled in Cerritos College to at least get started on some classes.  I also joined the college swim team and competed in backstroke and freestyle events.  Because I didn't really know what I wanted to do, I took my time getting through Cerritos College.  In the fall of 1997, six years after I first started college, I finally transferred to CSU, Long Beach and focused on getting myself a degree in English (English Education with an emphasis on Creative Writing).  I was pretty tired of going to college, so it took me a year and a half to get my degree once I transferred.

After receiving my Bachelor's degree in May 1999, I immediately started teaching.  I've taught in many places and have taught 6th graders all the way up to Seniors.  I started teaching at Carson in the fall of 2006 and I absolutely love this school and the wonderful mix of students it brings.

I'm very passionate about swimming and have been swimming in some capacity for as long as I can remember.  Currently, I swim for a local Masters swim team and compete against other swimmers in my age group.  I started coaching Carson's swim team in 2006 as an assistant coach.  The following year, I became head coach and helped develop the team into the force it is.  Even though our team is small, we have consistently beaten out bigger teams in our league and have had several of our swimmers go all the way to CIF finals.  They make me very proud!

I am also a proud mother of a little girl who continually amazes me every day.  She was born at 27 weeks and spent the next 9 weeks in the NICU.  It was a very scary, emotional time for all of us, since we also lost our son, Benjamin.  Currently, she's busy being a two-year-old and terrorizing our cats.

Other things I'm passionate about:  reading a good book, chocolate of all kinds, Edgar Allan Poe, U2, crisp fall mornings, 80s music, writing, The Princess Bride, art, color, and challenging young people to achieve great things.