I have been working for Embassy CES on and off since 1998: I've always been interested in learning, study, travelling the world, clear expression and the world of words. I am in charge of putting teachers in the position to teach as best they can, and putting students in the class where they'll learn as best they can. My job is to establish the school's busy schedule, to manage the number of students in each class, and the school's student intake and outgoings. I enjoy the hands-on contact with students and the feeling that we are providing a real service, doing something truly helpful.

I'm a native New Yorker. What I love about this city is the freedom. You can move through the city and within ten minutes you can be in an almost entirely different world. There are so many opportunities, too: there's always a door open.

My interests mostly focus on studying: reading Philosophy and Literature. New York is a central hub for libraries and bookstores. I like to advise students to visit the New York Public Library: it's a structure of beauty and magnificence, and not an ersatz experience.

Mind you, I learn more from my students than I have to offer when it comes to which sights to see. For weeks on a Monday, I'd practice the Past Simple with classes by asking, 'What did you do at the weekend?'. When you live in New York, you don't necessarily notice the exceptional: it's not part of your purview. I'd never even visited the Empire State Building, but my students could tell me all about it.