ABOUT ME

"Tidy" would most likely be the first things friends would say about me. Whilst I don't deny it, there is a lot more to me than that. Despite my neatness, I like to think of myself as quite an easy going person. I enjoy travelling and have been lucky enough to have been to some fantastic places in the past, I hope to continue discovering new places soon. I also like food, both eating it and cooking it. In my opinion, food is one of the best things about new countries, it's so new and exciting, each new country is a culinary adventure! Exercising and being outdoors are also very important to me, I suppose they have to be considering my love of sampling new dishes...

PHILOSOPHY

Enjoy the good times whilst they last, try not to let the bad times get you down. Simple, not particularly original or eloquent, but it works for me.

Interests

I like being outdoors, discovering new places and working with young people. If I can manage to do all three of these things at once, then I'm a very happy person. I usually spend my summers working or volunteering at children/young people's summer camps around the UK. For me it is the best way to spend the summer months. I enjoy camping, walking, hiking, going to the gym, playing squash, running and sailing. I'm lucky enough to be living in Lancashire at the moment so I have lakes and beautiful walks right on my doorstep. My ambition is to be a teacher, I've always enjoyed volunteering with children and young people and teaching would allow me to continue to do so...and get paid.

• dogs
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• exercise
• running
• instructor
• walking
• boating
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• camping
• sailing
• racquetball
• teaching
• volunteering
• lakes
• squash

Music, Movies, and Books

My music choice is extremely wide ranging. You'll have to flick through my iPod to find out.

My taste in movies depends on my mood, sometimes it's nice to watch something light-hearted and amusing, other times I like to go a bit 'deeper'.

Books, I read anything and everything. A current all time favourite would be Khaled Hosseini's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', whatever type of books you're into you'll like it: read it. For my degree I have a reading list as long as my arm so at the moment I'm just reading items off that. I've just finished Angela Carter's 'Bloody Chamber', a rewriting of classic fairytales with a contemporary twist. Unusual but enjoyable.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was 17 years old I studied at an international boarding school for two years. The students in the school came from over seventy different countries, we went to school and lived together in a medieval castle on the Welsh coastline. It was an amazing experience and I am now able to put a face to numerous countries on a world map. The school had a very active community service programme through which I volunteered at the school's own RNLI Lifeboat Station each afternoon once lessons were over. I trained as a volunteer RYA Powerboat Instructor and taught the new students the skills they would need to become RNLI crew members in their second year at the school.

Carrying on with the nautical theme, last year I worked at a high school in Wales as a Teaching Assistant. The school was awarded funding to take a team of 14 year old pupils on a week long sailing experience on board a 100 year old wooden sailing ship. Due to my boating experience I was chosen to be the adult who would accompany the pupils on their voyage. The trip was very hard work, ships built in 1906 don't have the same creature comforts as modern day yachts, but it was one I will never forget. Day one we all acted like hopeless 'land lubbers' - we were all sick within hours of setting sail. However, by the end of the week we were working flawlessly and were able to sail the ship with minimal assistance, we became a fantastic team of salty sea-dogs.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you to sail or to powerboat. If you're interested in learning a bit more about English Literature then I'd be more than happy to discuss the more exciting bits of my course with you.

If anyone can teach me successful a way of learning a second language then they would be a miracle worker.

Countries I’ve Visited

Greece, Israel, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom