A Little Bit About Me

My name is Michael Andrews and I feel fortunate to be a returning student at this stage of my life.  I received my A.A. degree from Pasadena City College in 2008, a B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2011 and I am now in the MA TESOL program here at SF State.  I guess you could say I have become an avid reader since returning to college.  I have read six short novels over this past summer.   I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima, The Key and Diary of a Mad Old Man by Junichiro Tanizaki, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto.   It is going to be hard to keep up this pace now that school has started again. 

Many years ago I worked as a bartender in a Cheers type bar in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  It was when I was promoted to bar manager that I realized I wanted to become a teacher.  I was responsible for hiring, training and firing of bar personnel.  I found my greatest strength in training employees.  I discovered that I have a great patience inside me and a desire to share my knowledge.  I took the passion for my craft and put everything I had into teaching it.

I had a similar experience during my undergrad working as a tutor at my universities campus learning assistance services.  Only this time instead of bartending I was helping students with their reading and writing.  I felt due to the education I received and my prior success in writing academic papers, I had developed a knack for explaining the processes involved in composition.  Then when I came here to San Francisco State I was excited to learn that the English department had a certificate in teaching composition.  It would be my dream to return to my Alma matter of Pasadena City College and teach where my path back to school began.