Introductions!

Hello, my name is Andrew Smith, and I'm an aspiring genius. 

This isn’t, of course, the way I would have imagined beginning a description of myself. Growing up in Alaska I always had a hard time feeling like I belonged. I think that’s the way a lot of kids view themselves growing up, and I was no exception. I wasn’t very comfortable in my own skin and I just wasn’t sure if I fit in anywhere. It took me years and some great mentors in my life to finally teach me that I had something to contribute to the world, that I had my own genius in me just waiting to be developed. Because of them, I came to realize how much I wanted to help other youth discover and develop their inner genius.

I grew up heavily involved in many different schooling programs, from a Christian school, to homeschool, to public school, to private school, I did just about everything. Throughout all of this my parents had my siblings and me immersed in a “Thomas Jefferson Education,” often referred to as "Leadership Education," which was significant in helping me develop a love of learning and a desire to develop all aspects of my character.

It was in the midst of growing up with my parent’s helping me to seek after my genius that I discovered two things I really enjoyed: Theatre and Shakespeare. I was begging my parents to let me audition for local shows and rent all the Shakespeare films I could from Blockbuster. It wasn’t long before I was seeking more and more opportunities that eventually led me to be trained and certified to teach Shakespeare, theatre, and public speaking classes to teenagers.

I taught and mentored for a few years locally in Alaska before deciding to take two years off to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in upstate New York. I returned from New York in April of 2015 and have continued my quest for learning. I'm currently studying theatre education and English teaching at Brigham Young University. It was there that I met my beautiful wife, Natalie. Both of us love teaching and working with teenagers! I had several incredible mentors growing up who helped me stretch and always strive to be better and to this day I look up to and seek advice from these men and women. These men and women are who I now strive to be; I want to help people find their genius, and I want them to understand that knowing and developing their genius is the coolest thing of all.