Hey! I’m Sarah
I used to be really bad at languages, like remedial classes for my native language bad. I was also 100% monolingual until college. I was also so uncoordinated & out of shape that I couldn’t balance on one leg for a second or do even ONE push-up at the age of 25.
Today, I’m fluent in Spanish, intermediate in French & learning Mandarin Chinese. I’m a 1st degree black belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate and not to shabby at yoga.
So what changed?
I did.
Why?
I decided to and you can too.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of my academics and formal training & experience, you should know that this part of me was the more rigid side of my identity. It still exists as my history & foundation of who I am, but I’m not the person today that I was when I wrote what you’re about to read. What follows is a summary of the beginning of my path that led me to this moment.
Learn how to learn, and you can learn absolutely anything
The “best way” to learn anything is to first understand yourself and how you learn. There is no single strategy or resource that will work for everyone because we each have different needs and learning styles. I help my students become comfortable learning, making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes. I encourage them to experiment with different strategies and resources and decide which ones work best for them.
Once they’ve done some self-discovery, I offer guidance so they can apply what they’ve learned to develop their own strategies and organizational systems that work for them.
My Academics
I struggled through high school, not because I wasn’t capable, but because I didn’t apply myself, and I lacked the skills and self-confidence I needed to be successful. I graduated a semester early, but my grades were lackluster; I rushed through because I was ready to move on. I started community college a few days later and began to really explore learning. I finally had control over what and how I learned, and I did very well, especially in comparison to my high school C’s. I did so well that I graduated with honors and as a member of Phi Theta Kappa and Phi Beta Kappa, among other academic recognitions. I’ve averaged about a 3.7 GPA since I started college in 2010 to present (I’ve never stopped taking classes even after completing my degrees).
I did, and continue to do, relatively well in college, but I’ve had to work at it. I had to take remedial Math and English classes because of my high school performance, but I now hold authorizations to teach both of these subjects because I was determined to improve. I also struggled to learn a second language in high school and when I started college; now I’m confident in Spanish fluency, and I’m working on a second bachelors degree in Spanish with a minor in French and studying Mandarin on the side.
Extracurriculars? I was never what you would call athletic; I tried out for many teams in high school and was rejected from just about all of them, but since 2017, I’ve been studying Shaolin Kempo Karate and competing in tournaments. I’ve developed the strength, flexibility, coordination, discipline, and confidence necessary to be successful. I’ve learned from my mistakes and failures and have become stronger and more successful because of them.
I don’t just apply my mindset, determination, and organization to academic subjects but to everything I do. I believe in myself and my abilities, although it may sometimes take me longer than others to achieve my desired results; I continually adjust my strategies, schedule, and goals based on my current level and needs; I know myself and how I learn; I know how to be successful and how to teach others❤
My Degrees
I enrolled in my first college classes in community college and completed my associates degrees in 2012 in Theater Arts and Liberal Studies at Mt. San Jacinto College before transferring to San Diego State University where I earned my bachelors degree in December 2014 in Liberal Studies with a focus in literacy and specialization in Spanish.
I took the spring semester off to work as a substitute teacher and tutor before completing my teacher credentialing at the University of California, Riverside. I earned my multiple subjects and single subject in English credentials in 2016. After finishing these and beginning work as a full-time high school teacher, I continued to take classes through UCR Extended Studies where I earned my Math Authorization in 2019. In addition to this, I’ve also taken several math courses through Coastline Community College in Statistics, Finite Math, and Precalculus to further improve my mathematical abilities.
I completed my second bachelors degree in Spanish at Oregon State University E-Campus in June 2022 and am in the process of discovering my next steps along my educational journey❤
Teaching Experience
If you’d like a fairly complete record of my employment, please take a look at my Linkedin profile. I worked several job before I became a teacher. I started working at the age of 16 and held multiple jobs simultaneously to pay for school and traveling. Some of these jobs were education related, teaching assistant, tutor, substitute teacher, and others were jobs that helped me pay my bills and learn many valuable skills and experience, like lifeguarding, camp counselor, customer service, theatrical technician assistant and front of house manager.
Becoming a Teacher
I started teaching in the fall of 2016 in the most unlikely position: a combination of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade (oh, and I taught middle school Spanish in the afternoons). It was quite the assignment for a first-year teacher, or any teacher, really. I learned that working with small children is not my forte, and so I began to explore other teaching position more suited to my ability to teach older students.
Within the same month, I accepted a new position teaching high school English, specifically English Language Development and Poetry which was essentially the leftover classes other teachers had abandoned in October. I worked here for the school year then found a position closer to home, even more closely tied to my niche of language acquisition.
Now we’re entering the 2017-2018 school year. Well, I struggled a bit to get a job with my English credential which is part of the reason I began working on a Math authorization, but I landed a job as a high school Literacy specialist for an independent study charter school. I loved it! However, I also landed a job teaching adult education in a county jail, a unique opportunity I couldn’t resist. So, I left my job that I loved for another position which I also loved, but I was laid off almost immediately - turns out a lot teachers with seniority loved that position too.
After finishing the school year with the county, I was offered a couple different positions to choose from for the next school year. I chose a position teaching high school math at another charter school where I worked for 2 years. Math was never really a subject I was interested in teaching, and taking the position out of necessity led to a lack of interest on my part in the job.
Beginning in summer 2020, I took a break from teaching to get my sh*t together and figure out what it was I really wanted to do with my life. I returned to working as a substitute teacher at the local high school district and focused on building the brand you see here today and finishing my Spanish BA and adding this subject to my teaching credential.
My Travels
So we’ve covered my academic and professional experience, but I’d be omitting a crucial component of myself if I didn’t include my travels which largely shaped who I am today.
Lion’s Club Youth Exchange Program
I got on a plan at the age of 18 and flew to Australia for 4 weeks to live with complete strangers. As an ambassador for the Lion’s Club, I represented the California MD4 division when attending club meetings, and I experienced the country and culture from the perspective of the locals I lived with.
I loved this program so much that the next summer, 2012, I exchanged to Italy for 5 weeks. I then returned and flew to Europe for a second time that summer a couple weeks later for a self arranged exchange to Turkey for 2 weeks with a friend I met in Australia. It was a very exciting, exhausting, and enlightening summer❤
Study Abroad
Well, I was even more inspired the following summer, but this time, I squeezed some more academics in. I studied Spanish in Spain and Costa Rica. I finished my second year of Spanish courses in a total of 8 weeks split between Madrid and Alejuela.
My Teachers
I’ve achieved my goals and continue to work toward new ones driven by my ambition to continue progressing, but I’ve had some help along the way. I’ve worked with numerous teachers over the years, and I’ve learned from what they’ve taught me and how they’ve taught me. I didn’t just listen to what they said and do it, although I did do this as well; I paid attention to how they taught, what I liked about it, and what I didn’t. Not that any of it was right or wrong; it’s just a style and preference, but through this process, I developed my own learning and teaching style.
So who are these amazing teachers, you ask?
Well, many of them were public school teachers and college professors, but I needed more help than this. I paid private teachers to tutor me in Spanish, French, and Math. I even sought guidance in English writing from the college writing center and friends who had a better command over the English language than I did.
Spanish
I worked with Laura Farfan, an incredible Spanish teacher from Argentina, who helped me transform my Spanish level from intermediate to advanced. We met weekly for years studying grammar, reading, writing, and speaking; she even guided me through my first Spanish novel, Cien Años de Soledad. I had already taken two years of college Spanish classes by the time we started, but because of the different schools I attended to expedite this process, I had some serious gaps in grammar concepts, and I didn’t yet know how to learn a language. She identified the areas I needed to improve in and created lessons for me to practice these skills. I grew so much in my linguistic abilities and as person from my classes with her because I not only learned the content, but how language is learned as I developed strategies to improve my abilities.
French
I loved Spanish and language learning so much, that I decided to learn a third language to help me understand Spanish and linguistics, so I chose another romance language: French. I still didn’t really know how to start learning a language though, so I decided I’d take classes. Well, community college classes didn’t fit into my schedule, and the only online courses I could find at the time were out of my budget, so I enrolled in private classes at M’aidez with Stéphanie Berton. Turns out, I not only learned French from her, but valuable skills for teaching and running an educational business. She carefully designed each of our classes with interactive activities and a structure she developed in her own French curriculum. I learned so much about French and teaching private classes from this customized experience❤
Math
I spent 2 years as a high school math teacher with a public charter school, but not without some help. I’ve been studying math, working toward my certifications for years, but I needed to learn faster and understand the material more in-depth. My math tutor helped me do this. I met with him several times to target some mathematical concepts I was struggling with. Not only did my math skills improve, but I learned some techniques to improve my educational business, like using an automated scheduler for meetings, and most importantly, my ability to think about math and problem-solve improved.
Shaolin Kempo Karate
I earned my Black Belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate in February 2023. I’ve been working with Master Blaine Carter at the United Studios of Self Defense since 2017. I started as a white belt with no martial arts experience and have been gradually making my way through the ranks. Karate has been a staple in my life over the last few years; while my jobs have come and gone, and I’ve explored different subjects and paths, Karate has been there consistently. Every week, I train, regardless of life and world events. Some weeks I make more progress than others, but I am consistently improving over the years because I have an excellent mentor. I’ve not only learned about martial arts, but about myself and about the importance of consistency and perseverance in learning and in life.
Kundalini Codes Activation, Neurolinguistic Programing, & Yoga Teacher Certification
I started working with Ella Tsang back in 2020 in the very beginning stages of my business and spent 2023 with her learning about kundalini yoga, Kundalini Codes Activations, Neurolinguistic Programing & Hypnotherapy, and deepening my overall practice.
My journey into coaching and entrepreneurship has been so much more than just that - It’s been an exploration of myself and my place in this world. I’ve learned not only not to fear my differences, but to embrace them and use them to create a business and life around who I am, rather than any one particular subject. The years I’ve spent with Ella have been truly transformative for every part of my being.
I’ve learned, and continue to learn, how to create and teach from a place of true expression and integration. I’ve become - or rather activated - the person who I’ve always been meant to be - she who has been dormant for so long. And now, I guide others not just through language learning, but discovering who they are as learners - who they are in their mind, body, and soul ❤
Alright, let’s wrap it up!
Everything I’ve done, I’ve been able to do simply because I had a desire to do it, and I made it happen. I’ve learned through my experiences, and I’m still learning and always will be learning, but I don’t make excuses for achieving my goals. I find a way to make progress, even it’s slow at times, because it’s important to me and I believe I can do it.
I believe you can achieve your academic goals because I’ve been through the process of learning skills I once thought would be impossible for me. It might take more or less time than you anticipate, and you might need some help along the way, but the key is owning your learning process. You can learn absolutely anything, you just need to determine how you learn best and commit to succeeding regardless of how long and how much assistance you need to get there.
