What is the most inter­est­ing thing you have done to explore or gain expe­ri­ence in your career field?

In the Fall of 2022, I will be a teach­ing assis­tant and tutor through the univer­si­ty and will be able to have my own class­room and stu­dents. I am so excit­ed for this oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn more teach­ing method­olo­gies and form new rela­tion­ships with stu­dents and faculty.

I am also in the process of apply­ing for an Eng­lish Teach­ing Assis­tant Award through the Ful­bright U.S. Stu­dent Pro­gram. If I am select­ed as an awardee, I will be able to live in anoth­er coun­try for a year and teach Eng­lish while estab­lish­ing and pro­mot­ing diplo­mat­ic rela­tions with the Unit­ed States. I am hop­ing to trav­el to an East Asian or Euro­pean country.

How are you shar­ing your time and/​or tal­ents with oth­ers now? How do you hope to do so in the future?

Iowa City has many won­der­ful oppor­tu­ni­ties to advance as an Eng­lish language teacher due to the high demand of com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers want­i­ng to learn the lan­guage. Right now, I am involved with the Friend­ship Com­mu­ni­ty Project, a non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to teach­ing Eng­lish and life skills to Iowa City-area adult immi­grants and refugees. Twice a week, I tutor a man in Eng­lish who immi­grat­ed here from the Con­go.

What has been your biggest chal­lenge since start­ing college?

My biggest chal­lenge since I trans­ferred from South­west­ern Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege to the Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa is being far­ther away from my fam­i­ly. Due to our busy sched­ules, I am not able to trav­el home as often as I used to.

What’s the best food on cam­pus?

My favorite place to eat is Mesa, a down­town piz­za joint in Iowa City. With Iowa’s campus being so close to down­town, it’s a quick walk from class.

What cam­pus activ­i­ties do you like to par­tic­i­pate in?

I vol­un­teer with Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa’s chap­ter of Alpha Phi Omega, a ser­vice fra­ter­ni­ty focused on the pil­lars of lead­er­ship, friend­ship and ser­vice. Through this fra­ter­ni­ty, I have been able to vol­un­teer at numer­ous places through­out Iowa City and Coralville, while mak­ing friends in the process.

I also enjoy when the Cam­pus Activ­i­ties Board (CAB) hosts bin­go or movie night, and going to the rec cen­ter for Zum­ba classes.