My experience in training Brazilian Jiujitsu is one of the most important parts of my identity. In 2005, I started training Brazilian Jiujitsu and Muay Thai at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City as a way to learn self-defense. I continued to learn the sport until 2008 at the Renzo Gracie gym until I left for law school. I hold a blue belt in BJJ under Renzo Gracie. I have even trained in Brazil at Gracie Barra when I took a two week vacation to Rio in 2007. I also trained under Roger Gracie in London during the fall of 2009 when I studied abroad in law school. While in law school, I also trained at Gracie Tampa South under Matt Arroyo. The discipline I learned from training this sport has helped me focus on my studies and teaching as well as maintain a healthy attitude towards life. My knowledge of Muay Thai proved useful when I taught in Thailand where Muay Thai is a popular sport.
As an ESL teacher, my experience with a variety of cultures helps me build rapport with my students and to also adjust to new situations whether it be living in a new country or working with students from another country, culture, or religious background. During law school, I traveled to various countries throughout the European Union including Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Wales, England, Ireland, and Scotland. During these travels, I learned how to survive on my own in a foreign country and how to handle culture shock. I also explored my interests in art, architecture, and culinary arts while visiting these countries. In addition to these travels, I have also learned what it is like to live and work in South Korea, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia. I have visited other countries including Oman, Laos, and Bahrain. In addition to learning about cultural sensitivity, these experiences have helped me make my lessons more interesting especially if the topics include places I have been to on my travels and those that I think my students would find interesting.
Indeed, my knowledge of the arts has further helped me develop engaging lessons. First, my experience with acting helps me encourage students with role-play activities and further helps me make my own performance as a teacher more interesting when I am modeling an activity. As a child, I attended acting school at Weist Barron Studios in New York City. I took courses such as Speech & Voice, Movement, and Commercial Technique. The course in Speech & Voice helped me when I started teaching because some of the same techniques used by my teacher proved useful when I was teaching my own students how to pronounce words naturally.
Second, my love for the creative arts helps me work with students who are studying various majors in the field. While attending Saint Francis Preparatory, I was able to concentrate my elective studies in Art that included taking courses in Art History and Fashion Design which inspired me to travel Europe as an adult. I have taught some students working in Graphic Design in Saudi Arabia. My knowledge of art terminology has proved useful when working with students studying in the field.
Third, my dancing background has helped me teach students English using dancing in the classroom. My experience in dance involves mostly the ballroom dances. In my early twenties, I completed Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Salsa dance classes at the Lorenz Latin Dance Studio in Glendale, NY from 2007 to 2008. I learned how to mambo as well as other Latin dances including Bachata, Cha Cha, and the Tango. I was on the student dance team at Lorenz Latin Dance Studio in 2008. In law school, I took some classes in my free time at the Fred Astaire dance studio in St. Petersburg where I was able to learn other dances including the Foxtrot, Jive, and Waltz. While in Thailand, I was able to teach a salsa dance class focusing on teaching the students numbers 1 through 8 and lexis including turn, side, step, front, back, etc. It was an engaging lesson that the students found fun.
Kerri Ann McLaughlin, J.D. 
