Josh brings more than fifteen years of experience in secondary and higher education to ESM Prep. He began his career as a high-school English teacher at the Ranney School in Tinton Falls, NJ. Since then he has taught writing and a variety of American literature courses at Hunter College in New York City. At Hunter he also served as Assistant Coordinator of Introduction to Writing about Literature - one of the university's required core writing courses - a role in which he designed workshops for first-year writing students and mentored new instructors. He draws on this wealth of experience to help students achieve their full potential as writers, thinkers, and scholars. A Philadelphia native, Josh is currently completing a PhD in English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York with a dissertation on the New York School of poets and painters.

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While working on his doctorate and living in New York, Josh tutored high school students from Riverdale Country School and Packer Collegiate Institute in a wide range of subjects and supported them as they crafted successful college admissions essays.

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Because each student has a unique set of talents, Josh takes a holistic approach to mentoring. His technique is customized to students' lives, strengths, and needs. He adopts a collaborative, student-centered approach in every session, with an emphasis on making the process fun. Years of classroom teaching and one-on-one tutoring have taught Josh that students learn best when they can connect material to their individual interests, and he believes that it is his job to help students see the connections that make learning relevant and enjoyable.

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In addition to his work as an ESM Mentor, Josh writes about art and literature; his essays have appeared in publications such as Art in America, Contemporary Literature, Public Books, Journal of Modern Literature, ASAP/J, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, reading, watching movies, going to art shows, and exploring Los Angeles on long walks with his dog.