about mst

My name is Teri Hu. My students call me Ms. T, which is where the mst88 comes from, 1988 being the year I graduated from high school. So, if you do the math, you can also figure out how old I am, more or less. In case you missed the home page and other links, I should probably mention that I'm an English teacher, and this site is mostly intended for my students. If you're looking for my curriculum vitae, click here.

I teach in Fremont, where I also grew up...partly. The other part of my childhood was spent in San Francisco, which is still my favorite place on earth, and where I am lucky enough to live again after ten painful years in the suburbs. I'm a city kid, born and bred. You like the 'burbs? Good for you. But they're just not for me.

In 2004, I took a break from teaching to go on a four month trip through China. I visited Beijing, Qingdao, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and finally, Taipei, where I was born. I also cruised down the Yangtze River, through the Three Gorges, which has since been dammed. It was an amazing experience, seeing the Great Wall and Forbidden City, meeting family members whom I'd heard about all my life, moving through the great crush of humanity that is China. If I ever get around to it, I'll post some pictures from my trip here.

As for why I decided to become an English teacher, it's really very simple: I love to read (I actually kept track of all the books I read one year...click here to see it.) and write, and I want to be of use to the world. I genuinely believe that strong communication skills are extremely important if you want to be successful, and helping young people acquire those skills is a worthwhile way to spend my life. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here. For the most part, teaching has been a very satisfying career. I like my students, and there's enough good stuff in the curriculum to keep things lively. The parts that aren't so much fun tend to be the usual bureaucratic garbage that you'd run across in any profession, so I can't really complain too much.

So, that's that. If you want to know more, you'll have to email me.

Letter to students 2006-2007

Here are a few links to pieces I've written:
Article for ATMP
Article for ModelMinority.com, Part I
Article for ModelMinority.com, Part II
Article for ASNE Institute Herald, Tampa (Tech Review)
Article for ASNE Institue Herald, Tampa (Profile)

Here are more links to articles where I was interviewed about a new California law to protect journalism advisers:
San Francisco Chronicle
San Jose Mercury News
Christian Science Monitor
Sing Tao Daily

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