About
I am a young professional passionate about education, ecology, and social class, or at least that is my 140 character original Twitter pitch. Reality is a little more complex. A few other things I consider myself: an educator, an adventure and traveler, a reader, a runner, a thinker, a friend, and very passionate.
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I grew up in a small, working-class town in the Midwest where my only dream was to leave. Upon reaching that goal, I was thrust into an unknown world. I discovered that learning happens everywhere and very often not even in a classroom. I learned to cherish the ideas of others, to consider why I even wanted to leave the Midwest, and to stand with one foot on each political divide to peer down into a deep, cultural abyss that few seek to cross.
My adventures have taken me many places, of which I have been extremely lucky and privileged and immensely grateful. I have backpacked the 273-mile Long Trail with 7 young people, traversing the entire state of Vermont. I've swung from 200 foot tall Douglas Firs through zip-lines and ropes courses in the Pacific Northwest. I have read books by candlelight in a rustic cabin as old as John Muir, nestled between giant Sequoia trees. I've drunk liter steins of dunkelweizen in Munchen, hiked to remote churches in the Caucasus, eaten pasta in Italy, and cheered Celtic music in an Irish Pub. I even walked 880km from the Western side of France across an ancient footpath to the coast of Spain--the Camino de Santiago--tracing the footsteps of pilgrims of generations. Then I returned and did 300 something kilometers of it again. Mostly, I've spent time living, thinking, and wandering.
Current events have placed me in the Pacific Northwest where I teach at a small private International Baccalaureate school. I mostly teach middle and high school Individuals & Societies, as well as lead notable clubs including Student Government and the Model United Nations. I also teach a course that has changed my pedagogy and life called Theory of Knowledge. The TOK curriculum has given some form to a type of problem I have long identified as needing solved within education and society more holistically.
I am immensely passionate about education and learning, especially within the humanities, and I am constantly learning more myself. In addition to teaching, I recently completed a second master's degree in history from Fort Hays State University where I wrote a thesis titled "Epiphanies, Metaphors, and Liminality: Religion and Mountains in 17th Century English Thought." My interests as as scholar extend far beyond history and the specific subfields in which I researched, and they are quite interdisciplinary in nature.
On this website, you will find some writings on my blogs about various subjects. Some of the most important will likely be about:
1. Ecological Issues, including climate change, environmental justice, and eco-philosophy. This will range widely but seeking to understand the world by thinking ecologically is something I strive for.
2. Social class and social justice. I specifically focus often on writing and understanding the world from a working-class perspective, so you will see this often.
3. Politics. This varies, but I often see myself seeking to understand what divides us--and overcoming it. That has been my thought most recently. But I also consider politics as seeking to understand who has power and who doesn't.
4. Education. I am a teacher and formerly worked in outdoor and experiential education, so this is something very near and dear to me.
5. Humanities. Though I am slowly learning, I will write about various philosophical topics and about literature and books often.
6. Personal experience. This is my personal blog, after all, so much of the above will be steeped in my own experience, which may include travel and adventure, too.
But mostly I created this site to serve as a sort of liminal space, cast somewhere between the professional and personal, as if a chasm of such division actually existed beyond the image in our minds. I hope you enjoy it. If you are interested at collaborating, learning more about me, or seeking to band together to change the world, please send me a message!
