I never thought myself as an educator… until somebody said I would be a great teacher. I got my start as an substitute teacher at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, CA. My family ridiculed me, as I was quite the smarty pants troublemaker who frequently escaped trouble… yet I found this to be more than a job. I enjoyed watching the students grow and learn, and becoming a High School teacher with my 1-year emergency teaching credentials at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf was a wonderful experience – however, I also learned how terrible the system is towards teachers, and that parents don’t always know best for their child.

• Substitute Teacher, 2014 – 2017
  • California School for the Deaf, Fremont CA
  • Taught all grades from preschool through High School, as well as Career Technical Exploration. Heavily requested for science and math classes in Middle and High School.
  • Involved with Hour of Code with Elementary and Middle School students
  • Assistant Director for HS Drama Club – choreography, ASL signs, assisting students with lines. Also fabricated props utilizing Arduino micro-controllers, EL and LED lights for effects.
• High School Science Teacher, 2018-2019
  • Pennsylvanis School for the Deaf, Philadelphia PA
  • Taught Biology, Earth Science, Environmental Science and Physics. Also led workshops for Hour of Code for Middle and High School students.
  • Assistant Director for HS Drama Club – fabricated props with 3D printers and Arduino micro-controllers with EL and LED lights, directed crew, and programmed/operated stage lighting
  • Led after school programs including media editing, chess club, and Deaf Kids Code
    • DKC – taught students how to develop websites for local businesses utilizing WordPress and had students present their projects at Comcast Headquarters
    • Given award for my work and focus with these students
• Teacher Aide, 2018-2020
  • Philadelphia School for the Deaf, Philadelphia PA
  • Assisted teachers in 2nd and 3rd grade; worked with students 1-on-1 or 1-on-3 on their weekly word lessons, led math groups and supervised recess.

In High School, for one class I had to interview a local business owner for a possible future career; I chose a popular mom-and-pop Italian pizzeria for my assignment. Years later, I applied for and got hired by Domino’s, later on the Astral Plane Restaurant – they were just a job to survive, but the start of my restaurant experience. While living in West Oakland and searching for a new job, I was offered the chance to be a server at a deaf-owned and deaf-run restaurant that was soon opening up – Mozzeria. While my stint as a server was short-lived, I had my eye on that brick oven and shortly, mastered the art of slinging Neapolitan pizza, in a manner consistent with Vera Pizza Napoletana rules. Eventually, I became Mozzeria’s food truck manager, and after I had moved to Philly? I missed the art of slinging, and got hired at Chestnut Hill Brewery (heads up – MOST EXCELLENT beers can be found and drunk here!!! Don’t forget to get a pie, as well!).

• Pizza maker, 2000 – 2001, Domino’s, Berkeley Heights, NJ
• Dishwasher, 2003-2005, Astral Plane Restaurant, Philadelphia PA
• Pizzaiolo/Food Truck Manager,  2014 – 2017, Mozzeria, San Francisco CA
  • Responsible for firing up wood-fired Stefano Ferrara brick oven, maintaining temperatures, making dough and ingredients, hand-stretching then making pizzas and cooking them. AVPN Certified
• Pizzaiolo, 2019 – 2020, Chestnut Hill Brewery, Philadelphia PA
  • Responsible for firing up wood-fired brick oven, maintaining temperatures, making dough and ingredients, hand-stretching then making pizzas and cooking them.

Most of my family has a job in the trades field. I started off in landscaping and worked a lot of side jobs for clients I found on my own via word of mouth or craigslist. I was always open to new trades and skills, because I knew this would pay off tremendously in the future. Today, I have upgraded so many front and backyards, and inspired several others to imitate my designs. I also have a lot of experience with side jobs in woodworking; from building new furniture to restoring older furniture and fabricating replacement parts. All these skills still get utilized today.

•  Landscaping
  • Brian Kelley, 1998 – 1999
    • cut and maintained lawns
    • leaf removal
  • TurfPro, 2006 – 2007
    • cut and maintained lawns
    • leaf removal
    • snow removal
  • Pirl Landscaping, 2019
    • cut and maintained lawns
    • leaf removal
• Great Swamp Greenhouse, 1999 2000
  • watered plants and removed dead leaves
  • assisted customers with their orders
  • operated Bobcat loader to move dirt, mulch and small trees
• Carpet Installation, 2000-2003
  • worked for 3 different installers at two carpet stores
    • move furniture out of room
    • removal of old carpeting and padding
    • install new padding and carpeting
    • clean up and return furniture to their spots
• Oak Street USA/Domestic Home Furnishings
  • Built and assembled wooden furniture by hand
  • Sanded, stained and applied finish to wooden furniture
  • Delivery of custom-made furniture to customers’ homes
• Blue Ridge Tree Services
  • debris and brush cleanup
  • branch and logs processed through a mulcher
  • operated log splitter to make firewood
  • assisted with snow removal when needed
• Wood floor installation, solo independent contractor
  • friends and family have hired me to install floating wood flooring since 2005

Information is Power: when I landed my hands on the first keyboard in front of a monitor, I fell in love. Its simplicity, its straightforward design – if an error occurred, it was because you screwed up. This was an extremely accessible community in the 90’s, as most everything was text-based. Anonymity was like a secure, warm blanket you could just wrap yourself up in – being deaf, I was cut off from the hearing world, but here – everybody was my equal. I taught myself almost all that I know about computers by trial and error; countless nights spent fixing my mistakes and restoring the family computer to its last stable state (backup EVERYTHING several times over!!!), unbeknownst to the parental units. I never really pursued an official career; I always thought I would get bored easily. Today, I realize I was wrong; now I am a Bloom Institute of Technology student studying Data Science.

• Webmaster, 1998, Bergen County Department of Parks
  • hired to set up the Division of Cultural and Recreational Affairs’ website
  • assisted with others’ office duties
  • after a serious hurricane hit, assisted with parks cleanup due to my previous landscaping experiences
• Hired by friends and family as their go-to Geek on Demand
  • developed websites using WYSIWYG editors
  • cleaning hard drives and diagnosing issues
    • if the issue was a software/OS issue, I would often be able to fix the issue on spot, sometimes requiring backing up files, formatting hard drives and reinstalling OSes.
    • if the issue was a hardware problem, I would write a diagnosis of the issue and how to address said problem.
  • built 2 computers out of scrap parts for two acquitances
  • built my own Hackintosh in 2014
• Repaired PSD’s two 3D printers countless times over 1 year
• Project Coordinator/Website Content Manager, 2022 – Present, Eyeth Studios
  • Responsible for drafting agreements and onboarding new clients, setting them up with client portal access
  • Add/edit content to clients’ websites using WordPress as needed
  • Create and send invoices to clients on a monthly basis
  • Take care of payroll and issue paychecks to subcontractors
• Scheduler and Accountant, 2023 – Present, DefCan LLC
  • Set up weekly schedules for drivers and customer support
  • Feed payroll for each subcontractor
  • Debug and occasionally solve issues with website, portal, Slack, and OnFleet

My first pursuit of legal studies was sometimes my freshman year in High School, trying to argue the Freedom of Speech right to flip my teacher off. It didn’t work, but one thing led to another, and I taught myself all I could about my rights as a Deaf person, and from there on it grew. At RIT, Drexel and PSU – I had law professors telling me I would be a great lawyer, and advising me to pursue a career in law. However, I’m not prone to a suit and tie; I prefer jeans and a comfy t-shirt. I’m not fond of the hours a lawyer works, either. So while I have some experience representing myself and supporting family with their legal issue, I do not wish to pursue a career in law. I did dip my toes in the paralegal profession, and while it would have been great to be paid… this isn’t the life for me.

• Paralegal Intern, 2009-2010, Snap!VRS
  • assisted Jeff Rosen, Deaf Attorney for Snap!VRS in investigating and retrieving relevant documents related to the Viable FBI raid
  • assisted Jeff Rosen in his external role as attorney at National Association of the Deaf meeting with senators at Capitol Hill regarding unemployment and people with disabilities
• Investigated unemployment law for my mother who, under stress and after being bullied at work, quit her job and pursued unemployment compensation
  • wrote a statement for her to give the judge
  • wrote a statement for her to speak out loud at her case
  • she won the case and was awarded unemployment compensation