Lecturer IV of Spanish, Coordinator for Spanish 103
About
Life brought me full circle back to Ann Arbor—my birthplace, which I left as a toddler. I was raised in Canada and earned a B.A. in Spanish and Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, followed by an M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury College, including two semesters in Madrid. I remained in Madrid for several years before returning to Ann Arbor in 1995 for what I thought would be a one-semester appointment. I never imagined I’d still be teaching here today.
What has kept me? In a word, conviction. Conviction that a culturally rich learning environment fosters essential life skills—observation, adaptation, and negotiation. Conviction that integrating cultural understanding into the language classroom can be a catalyst for social change.
I remind students that their ability to engage with “the other” is a powerful life skill, one that will serve them well in any context. Discovering new ways of thinking and being can shape who you are for a lifetime, and that’s the lasting connection I hope students carry with them.
As a course coordinator, I also support instructors, guided by the same values I bring to the classroom: reflection, respect for diverse perspectives, creativity, and motivation. By motivation, I mean nurturing a growth mindset, helping students and instructors alike to see challenges as opportunities, embrace mistakes as part of learning, and believe in their capacity to grow and improve.
