I began tutoring elementary and middle school aged children in high school and carried on working with with a number of families during my first couple years in college. Although I had initially intended to work with students on math, I ended up helping with english homework, science projects, history assignments, and even a few application essays. Sharing in their excitement when a lightbulb went off or when they went up a letter grade added many moment of joy to my life, and I felt a deep gratitude that they were entrusting me with a piece of their learning. Thus, when I learned about an undergraduate teaching position opening up for the Robinson Center's UW Academy classes in neurobiology and interdisciplinary english, I immediately submitted an application and was overjoyed to be offered the job beginning my sophomore year. I have now worked as a TA for these classes three times, TA-ed a composition literature course for incoming freshman, and am currently a peer facilitator for Psychology 317 (a statistics course). The satisfaction that I feel when seeing the students I have worked with learn and gain confidence in their knowledge is hard to match, as is the energy I have when explaining concepts, answering questions, and hearing their thoughts and ideas. Based in my personal experiences, I believe that instructors truly have the ability to ignite curiosity and passion in students or to strip the process of learning from these qualities. For this reason I take the responsibility which comes with teaching very seriously and aim to adapt to meet the needs and interests of students while simultaneously pushing them to think beyond the perspectives with which they entered a class. As I intend to pursue a career in academia, I hope to continue teaching and mentoring students while they navigate their way through the twisting path of college and to continue learning about what it takes to be a good instructor from those whom I have the privilege to learn from in grad school.