– Wado-Ki Karate –

I have been practicing Shotokan Karate since I was very young, around 4 years old, and attended (almost) every single class for years even partially through college, totaling around 14-15 years. I remember my first day of class not wanting to leave my mother’s side because of my fear of the unknown, having no idea of what to expect to placing in tournaments, demonstrating kata, and (almost) winning sparring matches.

  • Here I am, teaching my first ever class. I eventually went from teaching 3 students to over 10 new “no-belt” beginners and inspiring them to continue coming to class.
  • All my trophies
  • 2007 – My 3rd place trophy for Kata demonstration
  • 2007 – My 2nd place trophy for sparring
  • 2008 – My 3rd place trophy for kata demonstration
  • All of my trophies from my competitive karate days
  • 2004 – 1st place kata demonstration trophy.
  • 2005 – 1st place kata demonstration trophy
  • 2006 – 1st place kata demonstration trophy

Every karate class started with the same mantra… “Wado-ki is my secret. I bear no weapons. In the way of the peaceful spirit. I pray we may never have to use it.”
Karate taught me not only self-discipline and self-defense but also taught me perseverance as I stuck with it through the sunshine, rain, and snow for over a decade. Karate also taught me how to teach others and that in order to teach, you must understand the concepts yourself. You cannot teach what you do not fully understand yourself.

– STEM Academy through CHANCE –

During my sophomore year in college, I assisted other ambassadors of the CHANCE program in supervising CPS students through STEM academy. STEM Academy was designed to give the students a fun, hands-on look into topics that would be covered in high school and early college, but broken down to their level. The students went through English classes where they wrote sample college entrance essays, did programming with Scratch, and took a tour of the UIC campus to get a feel for how a college campus looks, runs and feels. (I must say, some of them were definitely NOT prepared for all the walking!).

  • Group picture with the tour guide!!!
  • S.T.E.M. class breakout session
  • Students learning coding through a free interactive online platform called Scratch.


Working with these students taught me that the work of being a supervisor is not a sit-down job. You are always doing something. If it isn’t overseeing the activities and being genuinely interested in what is going on, it is staying in touch with other co-workers about their whereabouts, ETA’s, and ensuring that all the planned activities go as smoothly and uninterrupted as possible. On top of this, reporting back to sponsors exactly what is going on so they are not proverbially ‘out-in-left-field’ when it comes to updates on the event