Mitchell Margolis was born in Coral Springs, Florida, USA on May 7, 1987 to mother Karen and father Gary. The younger of their two children, he is also the youngest teacher in the department of foreign languages at Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai.

From a young age I had an interest in language and literature and read widely in the classic literature of British, American and other cultures as well. My first memory of the excitement of reading is when my father read to me the stories of the British author Jules Verne when I was a small child.

After graduating high school I attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where I studied English literature and also intensively studied Latin, the ancient language of the Romans. Studying the intricacies of Latin grammar and the art of of translation from Latin to English sparked my interest in linguistics and ESL teaching. I earned my bachelor’s degree in English language and literature in 2009.

Later that year I returned to my home state to begin graduate studies in English and American literature and culture at the University of Florida, Gainesville. My master’s thesis explored the relationship between the Surrealist movement and the literary criticism of the 1960s and 70s. I graduated with my Master of Arts degree in May, 2011. As a graduate student at UF, I was also a teacher, instructing undergraduate courses in essay writing, technical writing, and popular culture. Completing my own coursework while simultaneously teaching was intense but rewarding, and I believe the experience will help me quickly adapt to my life at BNU-Z as both a student of Chinese language and culture and a teacher of English.

In my free time my number one pastime is reading – both fiction and non-fiction. I especially enjoy the novels of the Russian master Fyodor Dostoevsky as well as the writings of the French literary critic Roland Barthes. I also enjoy watching foreign and classic films, cooking, working out at the gym, and cycling. When I have time off, I love to go backpacking. I have been hiking all over the United States in mountain ranges in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee. I find the solitude gained on these trips into the wilderness revivifying.

Like backpacking, adapting to a new unfamiliar culture is a challenge. I came here to China because I sought a new experience that would take me out of my comfort zone and provide an interesting change from my life in America. I believe that happiness in life is achieved by facing many different kinds of challenges; adapting to a very different culture is just such a challenge, though certainly not an unpleasant one. I hope that my stay here at BNU-Z will be the first stop on a long journey that will take me far and wide throughout China and the world. When trying to decide where to teach in China, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai stood out for its excellent faculty, beautiful scenery, and close proximity to other Chinese cities that I hope to visit.