Tris Faulkner (JAMAICA):
Tris was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. In 2011, she graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature and International Studies. During her time at LSU, she had a 6 month study abroad experience in Murcia, Spain. Living in both Spain and the United States allowed her to discover her immeasurable love and passion for travel, languages, and learning about other cultures. After completing her Undergraduate degree, Tris became the translator and interpreter for the Venezuelan Ambassador to Jamaica. She worked at the Venezuelan Embassy in Kingston for a year and a half before pursuing a Masters in the same field. She is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University’s Masters in Interpreting and Translation Studies Program.
As an English teacher she hopes to not only tell, explain, and demonstrate, but to also inspire her students to be engaged and interested in what they are learning. Apart from the above, Tris enjoys, meditating, listening to music, socializing, and reading.
Benjamin Taylor (USA):
Benjamin grew up in Austin, Texas and left at age 18 for college, choosing Goucher, a small liberal arts college 10 miles from Baltimore City. In May of 2014 Benjamin graduated Goucher with a Bachelors Degree in Business Management and a minor in Spanish. During his time at Goucher he was able to study abroad for six months in Cordoba, Argentina. It was there that he developed an admiration for Latin American culture and an appreciation for traveling. Also during his time at Goucher he participated in a program to teach recent Hispanic immigrants various computer skills so that they could communicate with their relatives back home. Through this class Benjamin realized the importance of teaching and the possibilities it can open to his students. Besides teaching Benjamin loves to go running, hiking and exploring new cities.
James Puckett (USA):
James is twenty-six and from Charlotte, North Carolina. He has a BS and an MA in English Literature and is a former instructor of reading and writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, as well as at Cape Fear Community College. In addition to teaching courses in reading and writing, he has taught EFL for Winglish, USA, an educational company that works primarily with Korean businesses in order to improve the English of their employees. James enjoys travelling–he studied in the Netherlands–and reading, fiction in particular. He has come to Chile not only to gain further experience as an English teacher, but also to learn and improve his Spanish through immersion and sightseeing within the country.
Melissa Karlson (USA):
Born and raise outside of Chicago, Illinois, Melissa studied Business Management and took foreign language classes in Spanish and Mandarin at St. John’s University in New York City. There she helped foreign students assimilate to American culture and practice their English in weekly discussions. She then moved back to Chicago to gain her Bachelors Degree in Business Management at Roosevelt University with Honors. She has been abroad to Europe three times and has traveled to Mexico, where she found her love for the Spanish language. She will be pursuing learning Spanish in Chile while teaching English in Santiago.
Leah Shoup (USA):
Born and raised outside of Atlanta, Georgia, Leah moved to Athens, Georgia to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Linguistics and Literature and a minor in French. After living abroad in Cadiz and Madrid, Spain, as well as San Marcos de Colón, Honduras, she discovered her passion for living and working abroad. After pursuing a Master’s degree at Wake Forest University in Spanish Interpreting and Translation, she decided it was time to leave her country of origin for a longer period of time. With the experience of teaching younger children in Honduras under her belt, she decided it was time for a change in pace and quickly made the exciting choice to move to Santiago, Chile and teach adults. She hopes to both make an impact on her English students in Chile as well as challenge herself to improve her own second language.
Kristen Aguiar (USA):
Kristen was born and raised in Massachusetts, a bit outside of Boston. She studied Business at the University of Massachusetts and during her last semester studied abroad in Portugal. She had an amazing experience exploring Portugal and Europe, and that trip has inspired her to travel as much as she can. Since studying in Portugal in 2009, she has always thought about teaching English abroad and the desire to do so never went away. She is very excited to be a part of the STEP team and to see where this experience takes her.
Emma Bates (USA):
“A teacher has the opportunity to represent her native language and native country in an honest and understanding light, but she also has the opportunity to appreciate the world view and values of the learners.”
Originally from Houston, TX, Emma moved to Boston, Massachusetts to attend Wellesley College in 2007. Here Emma took on a well rounded curriculum that included courses such as International Relations, Women’s Studies, French, Spanish and Arabic. In 2011 she graduated with a Bachelors degree in Political Science. During her academic career, Emma spent three months studying in Jordan, where she came to fully appreciate and understand her passion for travel and foreign languages. Upon returning to Houston, Emma began teaching English to native Spanish speakers at a local women’s shelter near her hometown. Aside from teaching English, Emma is also a dance instructor. Her love for the art shines through in her teaching style, where she incorporates movement and kinesthetic methods into her lessons.
Clarissa Vinciguerra (USA):
“Language gives humans a unique ability to share knowledge and culture verbally. The more we can learn from one another, the more we can grow as individuals and as a society.”
Clarissa was born and raised in Sewell, NJ, about twenty minutes outside of Philadelphia, PA. She graduated from Rutgers University in 2012 with a Bachelors of Science in Evolutionary Anthropology and Art History. During her time at Rutgers, she completed several courses in both Italy and Kenya. These experiences brought about her love and passion for travel and the humanities. After college, Clarissa started her career as a writer and editor, but quickly realized that her heart was devoted to teaching. Since this realization, Clarissa has worked in both public and private primary schools in New Jersey. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, hiking and other outdoor activities. She believes that it is important to take student interest into consideration when creating lesson plans in order to keep students engaged and enthusiastic about the subject matter.
Michael Kowalczuk (USA):
“Like learning an instrument [learning a language] is not simply the memorization of facts and formulas, but a way to communicate your inner self to the world.”
Michael was born in Brooklyn, NY and was raised in Westchester, NY, about 30 minutes outside of New York City. Michael left Westchester at age 18 to attend the University of Vermont, where he majored in English and Film/Television. He was drawn to teaching from a young age, as he feels a natural inclination towards working with people. To Michael, teaching a language is not just about teaching a skill, but also a new way of life. He was a swim instructor for several years during his time in University. After graduation, he began working in a public school district in New York. Michael creates interesting and engaging lesson plans, and thinks it is important to place trust in his students in order to maintain an enjoyable and comfortable classroom. Another passion of Michael’s is Ultimate Frisbee, which he has been actively playing for 9 years. This team sport highlights Michael’s personable character and ability to lead and work as part of a team.
Marcus Alaimo (USA):
“To me, language learning is valuable in itself; however, as a teacher, one of my tasks is to make this value apparent to the students, to demonstrate and elicit the myriad ways language connects to their lives—divorced of such contexts, language seems invisible and meaningless.”
Marcus grew up in the central valley of Northern California and attended California State University, Chico, where he studied English, German and Spanish. In 2010-11, he participated in a study abroad program in Tübingen, Germany; this experience solidified his interest in the study of languages, literatures and culture. Before becoming a teacher with STEP in March, 2013, Marcus was an undergraduate Teaching Assistant and grader for several literature courses at CSU, Chico. Now, he is a teacher for STEP in Puerto Montt and the surrounding region, where he also manages the STEP online social media platforms. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities; however, when it’s raining (which is more often than not!) he can be found indoors, reading and writing.
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