Sharon Peters

I was born down the road in Dallas ... and found it was a great place to be from. Lost my accent somewhere in New Haven, Connecticut and never found it again despite returning home to Texas. Language has always fascinated me which was how I wound up getting a BA in Linguistics and English at UT Austin. I kinda strayed from that path though, working as a newspaper editor and organizer for the Texas Farmworkers Union in the Rio Grande Valley. I also began teaching ESL there at a small college in San Juan, Tx.
Eventually, I returned to Austin, where I continued to teach English and an occasional Spanish class. And travel in Mexico anytime I got the chance. I continued studying and teaching cooking also ... something I had begun to do while living in New Haven ... I had discovered that eggplant imam, Linzer tortes, borshch and mole poblano were so much more interesting than meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Returning to Dallas, went through a culinary program at El Centro and worked as a chef at several Dallas restaurants, before returning to teach cooking again.
But I missed university and linguistics, so decided that that returning to study TESOL would be the best combination possible for love of language and love of teaching. I am currently trying to figure out how to add cooking to that mix ... I will complete my TESOL coursework this May, and the practicum in the Summer. Beyond that ???? I would like to teach outside the country, possibly in Latin America or Eastern Europe. But I am not ruling out more school.
I am excited about classes this semester. I will be doing a conversation class at Arlington Reads!, and hopefully will be able to find another service opportunity in a different program for additional experience. I look forward to spending some more time with people I already know and meeting the new students in my classes.