(Auto)Bio
For a long time I didn't get the point of buying music. This notion has nothing to do with internet piracy, but with the pure quantitative value with a CD. Fifteen dollars for 45 minutes seems like a bad deal compared to a 50 dollar game for at least 2 months of gameplay. You can't "beat" a CD and you certainly couldn't replay a CD, you already heard the song.
But then I turned 13 and found songs that actually resonated with me. The Clash, Jimmy Eat World, Ben Folds Five, (admittedly this is a crazy combination of bands) all showed me how 15 dollars for 45 minutes was totally reasonable. Ever since, I have believed in the power of art to transform a person's life.
As I grew older, I found more and more art that I could relate to or learn from. J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye had a huge impact on my life at 15 and Adrian Tomine's graphic novel Shortcomings resonated even louder for me when I was 21. These books are still stories that I hold very dear and reread often.
Currently, I work as a teacher and Program Director at Lekha School of Creative Writing where I help expose the power of the arts to an upcoming generation. Refusing to believe that something "isn't my job," I have worked weekends, nights, and holidays all to make sure the work gets done.
In my first year at Lekha, I helped expand the after school program to an array of schools and parks and recreation departments in the Bay Area, including the City of Danville, the City of South San Francisco, and the Moreland School District. I achieved these goals through relentless pursuit of the right person to talk to and coordinating with outside personnel to make sure our program could work.
Since my first year, I've also accomplished contracts with the City of San Jose, Foster City, and several private schools in Southbay. In addition to these contracts, I have spearheaded a new registration system that the company currently uses along with designing its new web site.