CURRENT MISSION

I want to get involved with a few local communities, put my time to use while I learn Spanish and meet new people! I love working with kids and being outdoors, so that's what I want to do while abroad.

ABOUT ME

I love kids, speaking Spanish and working out (love kick boxing, kayaking, riding bikes, etc). I am finishing my Master's in Social Work (MSW) degree at San Jose State University and hope to work with Latino children and families in a medical setting after graduating next May.

PHILOSOPHY

I live my life to make the world a better place. As simple as that sounds, I struggle with it every day. I hope to help the world by working with kids as a speech therapist in my future; in the mean time I plan on volunteering at a few schools in South America and then work with AmeriCorps for a year.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I heard about Couchsurfing through a friend who LOVED it while she was touring Europe last summer. I hope to contribute to the community while I'm abroad this summer!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

NONE! But I'm excited to have some experiences!

Interests

I love reading, cooking/baking, being outdoors and hanging out with my friends and sister!

• cooking
• baking
• running
• working out
• reading
• music
• outdoor activities
• kayaking
• boxing
• social work
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Crash, Taking Woodstock, Whip It, Love Actually

Music: Brett Dennen, Ingrid Michaelson, MIKA, Sara Bareilles, Lady Gaga

Books: Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I babysat a lot in my past work experience. One night I was babysitting 2 siblings: a 5 year old girl and her 2 year old brother. It was time to get into bed but the little boy wouldn't listen to me and demanded he stay in his parent's room and not go to bed. After I tried convincing him for a while, his sister told me "he likes when you speak Cantonese to him" to which I responded, "I don't know Cantonese. Could you ask him to go to bed for me?" So she walked over to him, laid on the bed so that her face was right next to his and started whispering to him in Cantonese. Following their short conversation, the little boy suddenly exclaimed: "I have to get to bed soon before mom gets home!" and ran into bed. The adorable moments between siblings are numerous but often-times under-appreciated!

Teach, Learn, Share

This is kinda silly, but I just found this webpage today that cracked me up. It is titled "Random thoughts from 25-35 year olds" but I think people of a wider age range can relate to the items posted on it. A few of the things that really stuck out to me and reveal a bit more about me include:

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

And my favorite:

-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

(To see more of these, you can go to: http://melon.posterous.com/random-thoughts-from-25-35-year-olds)

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Honduras, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States