What were your original plans after high school, and how did they shift?

At 17, I thought I knew what I wanted. The plan was: get into a top university, study the humanities, and become a journalist. I ticked off the first box when I was lucky enough to be admitted to Brown early decision. And then the world turned upside down, a pandemic forced classes online, and I decided I was better off delaying my plan and taking a gap year.

Like many people stuck at home during covid, I found myself with more time on my hands than I was used to. Naturally, I decided that I’d use this time to finally hunker down and memorise the Scrabble dictionary. Having competed in officially sanctioned Scrabble tournaments since I was nine, I had always had vague aspirations of achieving mastery in the game. So, I embarked on the ever-continuing journey of becoming one of the Scrabble greats.

Eventually, I decided it was time to get out of the house. Where to? Sitka, Alaska, of course. There, I attended Outer Coast, a nascent alternative academic program with a total of 17 students. Its self-governed, service-oriented model threw into question everything I knew about learning, studentship, and being part of a community, and I came out of Outer Coast with a desire for a more communal, locally rooted approach to my education.

How did the pandemic change your direction?

During my first months at Brown, I struggled to find my footing. My time in Sitka had shifted what I wanted out of university, and though I remained committed to my Scrabble regiment, I found myself overwhelmed by the wealth of courses, fields of study, and extracurriculars. Eventually I declared a concentration (major) in computer science, finding joy in solving the puzzle of a coding problem that was not too dissimilar from the puzzle of a turn in a Scrabble game. I enjoyed my courses in computer science but ended up finding my long-term career aspirations elsewhere: back in Alaska.

I spent two summers in Sitka as a staff member for Outer Coast’s Summer Seminar program for high school students. I worked with students on service projects around Sitka, taught storytelling workshops, and helped foster a community centred around empathy and reciprocity. These summers showed me the challenges, and the beauty, of bringing students from a wide array of academic backgrounds into one classroom and allowing their experiences to help shape their understanding of complex texts and ideas. Students should not feel as though they need to leave behind their backgrounds, personalities, and identities to succeed academically; rather, their individuality is exactly the thing that spurs learning.

How did you bring this student-centered philosophy to your work as a Fulbright Fellow?

Invigorated by what I had witnessed in my students in Sitka, I decided to pursue new professional experiences in education. I applied for and was accepted to the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program, so I packed up and moved to Athens in August of 2025. I was placed in a junior high school, where I taught everything from novels like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Giver to an overview of Aristotle’s philosophy of friendship to workshops on hard skills like delivering a presentation and writing different types of essays. When planning and teaching, I carried with me this student-forward approach, inviting them to share about their interests, lives, and ideas. When students feel seen, they thrive.

What are you looking forward to doing in your new role at St. Catherine’s?

I am thrilled to have been selected for a second year of Fulbright and to now be getting started at St. Catherine’s. I will be taking on an expanded role including classroom involvement, co-curricular coaching (join the Scrabble club), and college application advising. The same educational principles will apply across all these settings: Let the students talk. Find what they are passionate about. Bring their voices to the foreground. Universities want students who are genuine, excited, and curious. All the rest is secondary.

What key takeaway do you hope to share with students navigating their own futures?

Seventeen-year-old me would never have believed that I would have lived in Alaska and Greece, finished in fourth place at the North American Scrabble Players Championship, studied computer science, or now be aiming to work in education. And, of course, I am nowhere near done finding my way. I may try out a full-time teaching role, find work in schools in another capacity, or, who knows, maybe I’ll try out a different career path entirely (what ever happened to that journalism idea?).

Teenagers can hardly be expected to know exactly what they want for their futures. In working with St. Catherine’s students, I hope to instil in them that their paths will curve and bend and branch off in the most unexpected of ways. There is no one right option, one singular best school, for a student. Experimentation, discovery, open-mindedness—these are the skills that will allow students to succeed wherever they end up.