I grew up in Covina, a town about twenty-three miles east of Los Angeles and about 20 minutes away from LCHS.  After high school, I attended the University of California, Irvine.  I majored in history and minored in German language and literature and global peace and conflict studies.  During my fourth year at the university, I studied on the Education Abroad Program in Goettingen Germany, attending Georg-August Universitaet.  In 1999, I completed my Master's degree in history at San Francisco State University.  My academic interests include the foreign relations of the Atlantic world, with a particular focus on German-American relations in the 20th century.  I like to do a bunch of things, too many to include here, so I will pick a few.  I enjoy traveling, reading, and sports.In my free time, I coach my kids' sports teams, am a scout leader, and run. When writing a brief biographical statement, it seems appropriate to provide some insight into the thoughts and ideas that animate my career as an educator.  Though there are many, I find the following to be a particularly forceful call to and for humankind.    "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."                Horace Mann                Antioch College, 1859