Welcome to Brazen Careerist!

About Me

I'm an educator, pure and simple. It is my pride and joy to be able to interact with people who are interested in improving themselves, whether it's for a job or for themselves. As you can tell from my educational background, not only do I enjoy interacting with that type of person, I am one myself. You can consider me a "knowledge junkie" with an emphasis on what it means to be a human: a.k.a philosophy--and in particular, what it means for humans to be ethical people.

My work background is a bit of a mixed bag. I worked as an educator throughout grad school and found that I loved it. I was a tutor, working with a primarily diverse population, to develop student's skills in anything related to reading, writing or study skills. That means I was required to know how to write and English paper as well as how to set up a schedule and how to read the densest of philosophy.

Before that, and during my Bachelors, I worked as an all 'round web guy. I was a graphic designer for about two years, learning the basics of design, color theory, and the advertising business. To this day I take pride in the skills I learned as a designer. I also worked at the California State Lottery as a public relations intern, helping program interactive Flash content, helping edit press releases, and talking to the public. I've also worked as tech support, and my first job turned into a network administrator position!

Now I use my technology background to inform my work as an educator. I'm enamored with the web and how it can be used to instruct students. Much of my course content, as well as all of my assessment, takes place online, and I'm interested in using new technologies like wikis, peer instruction, and clickers to help the students learn.

My ideal position would be something education related where I could also use my technology background. That means something like a distance training position, or a web education developer. I'm very interested in working with non-profits as well, and I would love to work as a volunteer trainer, or something similar.

Work History

• Madison Area Technical College
• Instructor
• January 2010 to Present

• Instructor for course in ethics: theory and application. Developed course curriculum with a focus on issues of importance for today’s society, especially concentrating on issues of traditionally marginalized people. Introduced innovative teaching methods, and participated in departmental policy setting and planning. Prepared weekly three-hour presentations and led student discussions designed to integrate new information with students’ knowledge. Consistently high marks on peer evaluation.

• San Francisco State University
• Graduate Teaching Associate
• January 2009 to May 2009

• Instructor for courses in critical thinking. Developed course curriculum, including syllabus, and evaluative tools such as homework, quizzes and written assignments in line with departmental curricula. Prepared weekly three-hour presentations and led student discussions designed to integrate new information with students’ knowledge. Consistently high student evaluations.

• Learning Assistance Center at San Francisco State University
• Tutor
• September 2007 to December 2008

• Led one-on-one sessions with students from underrepresented communities to improve skills in all academic areas, especially in reading, writing and research. Kept extensive records on individual student’s progress, and regularly participated in staff meetings to improve skills in teaching. Worked with approximately 35 students per month to find and address difficulties.

• San Francisco State University
• Instructor
• September 2008 to December 2008

• Instructor for course in reading and writing techniques. Prepared bi-weekly lessons according to departmental curricula. Monitored student’s progress with in-class assignments and developed impromptu lessons addressing specific student’s difficulties. Met weekly with staff to coordinate course work, improve curricula, develop lessons and build teaching skill set.

• California State Lottery
• Internship
• October 2005 to August 2007

• Support person for maintaining and updating the California Lottery’s public website. Created static and animated graphics, designed and implemented flash marketing content, and programmed interactive content in flash. Wrote HTML and CSS, and responded to email inquiries from the public. Performed basic office duties including answering phones, filing and basic editing work for various print publications.

• Family Service Agency
• Suicide Prevention Crisis Counselor
• January 2006 to December 2006

• Provided support services for suicidal people and people in crisis. Dealt with high-pressure crisis situations and often handled multiple crisis situations at once. Maintained extensive record system and attended training sessions.

• Mesa Beverage
• Graphic Designer & Jr. Network Administrator
• May 2004 to September 2005

• Graphic designer for a mid-sized beer distributorship. Designed and printed large banners, streamers, static stickers and other advertising media for a multitude of businesses throughout California. Maintained print shop: worked with suppliers to reduce costs, ordered and maintained paper and ink stock. Worked with large format printers. Designed, cut and applied vinyl for signs and banners.

• Ulink Internet
• Network Administrator
• October 1999 to October 2000

• Co-network administrator for small internet service provider. Designed and maintained an extensive system of internet services, including sendmail, apache, and named on Redhat Linux. Designed and wrote custom interface to allow technical support representatives to perform basic administrative tasks in Perl.

• Ulink Internet
• Lead Technical Support Representative
• November 1998 to October 2000

• Lead call center manager for small internet service provider. Took troubleshooting phone calls to support end-users for all services related to internet service. Supervisor for team of 5 - 10 employees, ensuring call accuracy and good customer service principles.

Education

• San Francisco State University
• Master of Arts, Philosophy
• 2007 - 2009

• President & Founder, Philosophical Students Society

• California State University, Sacramento
• Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy
• 2004 - 2006

• Winner, 2006 Nammour Essay Contest for "Harry Potter and The Reason Why I Can’t Enroll at Hogwarts."
  Dean's List--Fall 2004, Fall 2005-Fall 2006