I’m from Cornwall, the southwesterly tip of the United Kingdom, and the most beautiful part of England – except for the rain. I studied English Literature and Critical Writing at the University of Sussex in Brighton, where I gained a BA and MA, and after that fulfilled a lifelong ambition to live and teach abroad.

After a year teaching English in Taipei, I followed another dream – journalism. I loved living in Taiwan and was fortunate to continue my journey there for four more years. I worked for the Taiwan News and the Taipei Times as a subeditor, before spending two more years in Singapore as editor of a design and architecture magazine. I returned to the UK and worked as the editor of a visitor attractions industry magazine. We specialized in the business of theme parks, museums, galleries, zoos and so on, and the work took me to some wonderful places, including Orlando, New York, Moscow, Barcelona, Gothenburg, and Amsterdam. However, the call of Asia never went away, and in 2018 I decided to change career and move to China. I arrived at Changzhou Senior High School, where I teach AP Literature and Composition.

The opportunity to live and work abroad has always been a privilege to me, and one I hope our students will all get to experience for themselves when they study at a university overseas. As we get older, we learn that in life it is important to give back some of the benefits and knowledge we have been lucky to receive. That is why teaching is important to me, as I hope that in some way I can help students improve their skills, their confidence, and develop in them a love of literature and the ability to find in the texts we study the door to new worlds and new understandings. As we are all global citizens, I hope to encourage openmindedness and respect for others and the world around us.

Working at the AP Center has been a rewarding experience, made special by the students, who are smart, inquisitive, hardworking and good-humored. Working with these young adults during these crucial years is a real pleasure.