I come from a family of artists, musicians, and teachers. Performance became very prevalent in my life at a young age, whether it was playing the piano at my Grandmother’s recitals, rehearsing my lines religiously for an upcoming production, or just reciting a poem I had written at school assembly. When I moved to Hong Kong at 6 years old, I found a second home performing in youth theatre productions, where drama classes became a safe place for me to express myself in new and exciting ways, make friends, and gain confidence through experimentation. The discipline and the friends I made from those long rehearsal hours have stuck with me through the decades, and most importantly, I grew a passion that led me to choose to study the Theatre Arts at a higher level during my IB diploma and at university. My love of teaching started very differently: when I was lucky enough to become an older brother. As a teenager I read every night to my younger sister and learned early on how rewarding it is to be involved in a young person’s development. I took university psychology courses to learn more about child development, started teaching as a behavioral specialist in California public schools with the mentorship of my child psychologist grandmother, and have spent the last 6 years teaching with the values of radical empathy and patience in a safe environment. When I’m not teaching the Theatre Arts I still pursue my love of performance through music, acting, hosting events, and occasionally reciting Shakespeare for the Hong Kong Philharmonic. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to give back to youth theatre in Hong Kong as it has given me so much.