Hi! My name is Marissa, and it is very nice to meet you all! I’ve had to write many different bios about myself for various different jobs, but let me tell you, it’s always a bit of a weird and awkward experience. How do I begin? What do I say? Do they even care? Is anyone actually going to read this? But, if we are going to go on this learning journey together, I guess you should know a bit about myself and if I’m actually “qualified” to be doing this.
So, let’s start at the beginning. It’s a very good place to start you know. Like many others, I went through the motions of going to religious school from kindergarten through 7th grade. I consider myself lucky though, I loved religious school and had a wonderful and fun experience. In high school I became a madricha/student aid. This is where I first started teaching Torah. My mom became a religious school teacher during this time, and I helped out in her classroom. She let me have free rein when it came to teaching Torah to the students. I would do my best to make it as fun and interesting as possible while making sure the kids still understood the key concepts.
Nowadays, you can find me working at the after school program at my local JCC and at my temple’s religious school. I guess I just couldn’t stay away, huh? When I look back at my many different jobs, a solid 90% of them have been working with kids. I’ve worked at after school, camp, and religious school. I honestly think I’ve learned some of my most valuable life lessons from working at these places. I was a shy and reserved kid living in my turtle shell, but I slowly learned how to poke my head out and let loose. Kids taught me that it’s okay to be fun and silly and if you make a fool of yourself, even better!
When I’m not running around chasing after the rugrats (or herding cats as I like to call it), I’m spending most of my time consuming media. I mean, if we use fancy terminology for it and pretend that I’m “doing research for future posts”, it’s totally fine and acceptable, right? I want to tell you about some of my favorite things (don’t quote sound of music…don’t quote sound of music), here’s a little disclaimer: I’m a very indecisive person and it’s hard for me to pick favorites. HOWEVER, once I pick a favorite, there’s a good chance I’ll hold onto that and keep it as my favorite until I die. I guess you could call me loyal or devoted. Now, without further ado, these are a few of my favorite things (darn it). My favorite candy will always and forever be Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. But I do have a big sweet tooth and love most candies, especially sour ones. My favorite TV show is Bones and I miss it dearly. I don’t care how old I am, The Lion King will always be my favorite movie (no I still haven’t seen the new one, I’m still very much on the fence about it) and Timon and Zazu are my favorite characters in case anyone was curious. I always say that my favorite musical is Newsies but over the summer I discovered and saw SIX and I’ve become very obsessed so now I’m thinking maybe that might be my favorite musical but I’m not ready to fully admit/accept that yet and I don’t do well with change so maybe let’s just say that it’s a tie? Yeah? Ok! My favorite book is Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. My English teacher freshman year of high school had our class read it and another of his books and I fell in love instantly. It’s a book I always reach for when I need a little boost of positivity and encouragement. I can’t possibly pick a favorite quote, I’m far too indecisive to have a favorite quote. There are just too many good quotes for different situations. But, here are a couple of good ones that I like very much: “broken crayons still color” (Author Unknown), and “You’ve got to put your behind in the past” by Pumbaa from The Lion King.
I’m very very excited to begin this new journey with you all and can’t wait to see where this goes!
