From an early age, I was sure I was going to be a teacher I loved learning and I loved helping others learn. In high school, I participated in job shadowing, the Future Teachers of America club, and other opportunities. Once I started college, however, I realized that the classroom/school setting of K-12 was not where I envisioned my career anymore. I changed my major to psychology. Because I love learning, I took Calculus II as an elective. And despite my change in majors, I still loved to support others in their learning and I found positions to do so. I tutored at the local high school, I provided supplemental instruction for a statistics class, and I was the teaching assistant for a general psychology course. One of my favorite moments in college was when I was reviewing material with a group of students who were struggling to understand Type I and Type II error. I explained how to think about these errors in a different way than their instructor, and they collectively had an "Aha!" moment.

I went to graduate school at the University of Utah, where I earned MS and PhD degrees in educational psychology. My program included two graduate statistics courses, and I also elected to take a qualitative analysis course and a hierarchical linear modeling course (which I used for my dissertation). During my time as a graduate student, I taught "Strategies for College Success," which covered study skills and college-level writing. I have taught graduate-level courses in psychology and evaluation. While my positions since graduate school have not focused on teaching, I still enjoyed opportunities to share my knowledge and expertise with colleagues and students.

I love to learn just for the sake of learning, while I also recognize that not everyone does. I can work best with students when we both understand what is motivating them (e.g., getting a good grade, receiving praise) and can use that to provide positive reinforcement and focus. I enjoy tutoring math subjects especially, and helping it make sense, but I also have significant experience writing and editing papers and can help students understand the why behind the rules of editing as well.

Outside of academia, I love to travel with my sweetheart, where we often spend time learning about history and culture of new places. I also enjoy reading and playing with my cat when I'm at home.