CURRENT MISSION

Helping build a study abroad company that provides immersion experiences abroad for high school students and college students around the world.

ABOUT ME

I love to hear about physical and spiritual journeys that bring positive change in peoples lives. That probably seems a bit strange, but I really enjoy talking about traveling, culture, food, languages, and life experiences. These topics are the best teachers and they change and affect people's perspectives in a way that changes lives, and I probably enjoy talking about it so much because I can relate to it.

When I went to college, I thought I knew what I wanted to be a lawyer and make money. Life was going to be making a living and nothing more, but I lived abroad in a small town called Alba in northern Italy at the beginning of my third year of college. During that time, I learned to love the challenge of living in another culture and trying to learn another language.

My collective experience in Italy and taking trips widened my perspective on how people live and that it can't be all about making money. That collective experience made me enjoy a slower-paced lifestyle, appreciate the art of communicating, and it made me want to learn more about different cultures and different languages.

While in Italy, I took a weekend trip to Spain to visit a friend who was doing a teaching program, and I realized how much Spanish I still knew from when I was younger. I visited my friend Nora, and I met many great, friendly Spanish people. There was so much life in the street and it wasn't that big of a city.

I applied for that same program at the end of college, and I was accepted into it. I taught in Galicia and lived in Santiago de Compostela for two years, spent some time at home in DC to save money, and then I moved to Madrid where I lived and taught English while doing a Masters in Teaching and Learning Spanish as a Foreign Language from the University of Acalá.

After four school years in Spain and five months in Peru, I've enjoyed the stability of being closer to friends and family in Baltimore, Maryland (USA).

PHILOSOPHY

Find your passion and pursue it relentlessly.

I felt nervous about making some decisions in my life because I thought I wasn't going or that I going to fail. That paralyzing feeling stops people from following their dreams and passions. This is one of those times in my life where I said failure is only when I tell myself I can't do it. I went to Spain to learn more about the Spanish culture and language, but it's taken me to a lot of places and introduced me to some of the beautiful people you see on my page.

So far I've been so impressed how the Spanish people have been very willing to help out a complete stranger or someone they don't know very well. I've tried to take those positive experiences with me.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I couldn't log into couchsurfing for a long time cause I lost my password and they wouldn't send me a new password. I found the password and now I'm on couchsurfing again!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've met people from couchsurfing through my friends that I have visited in other cities. I also have met people at couchsurfing meetings in Santiago de Compostela. Couchsurfing brings people together, and it brings out the best in people.

Interests

I love writing, tv series, documentaries, sports, learning about history, listening to music, and hearing stories.

• arts
• culture
• writing
• education
• traveling
• music
• basketball
• lacrosse
• teaching
• history
• languages
• law

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Gladiator, Shawshank Redemption, Dodgeball, City of God, etc.

Music: Everything. Hip-hop, rap, dubstep, rock, alternative, etc.

Books: The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. All Things Possible by Kurt Warner. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. Scar Tissue by Antony Kiedis. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Gaining fluency in another language.

I never thought I'd actually have the ability to speak another language and I could have never imagined a more humbling journey. Despite years of Spanish classes, they didn't teach or show me how to speak it. When I moved to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain, I was on a mission to learn Spanish.

There were countless times when I felt stupid or thought that I would move home to the US, but I told myself that I couldn't give up. When I started to work as a teaching assistant at a primary school in northern Spain, I felt embarrassed that I couldn't speak another language. The assistant from the previous year spoke four or five languages fluently and the school assumed that I could speak Spanish. They were very patient with me and they helped me along my journey.

Ultimately, three school years later, I graduated from a Spanish university with a degree in Teaching and Learning Spanish.

Teach, Learn, Share

There's always someone else who knows more languages, who's visited more countries, or who's got more stories. Whatever it is that you makes you turn toward envy, you have to look away and focus on the positive aspects of your life and the relationships you have in it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Bad jokes, fantastic conversation, decent tex mex including a marvelous chorizo chili, and a few stories that shape who I am and who I've become as a person.

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Scotland, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, Italy, Peru, Spain, United States