People

I was born and raised in San Bernardino (which is in Southern California) to my mother who was a single parent to both my sister and myself. Being a first generation college graduate, the conversations we had in our home about plans for the future felt more like dreams than reality. I always knew I wanted a different life than what we had -- one where I could be a contributor and make a difference in my work (and the world!) rather than experience the constant worry and day-to-day struggle to provide for a family as I observed. When the time came, I had big things on my mind like: how will I pay for college, what if my family needs me and what will my family feel if I can’t help them financially, to finally, am I even prepared to go away to school? I ended up applying and getting accepted to several Southern California universities and was awarded a couple of nice scholarships that I felt would help offset the student loan burden. So with that, I settled in at a small liberal arts college not too far from home. I attended the University of Redlands where I majored in psychology because I was and still am fascinated by behavior. I immediately went on to graduate school to pursue my Masters in Counseling Psychology because I felt strongly tugged to offer support to underserved students who wanted to attend college, but faced many obstacles. I spent several years working in K-12 education before life steered me in another direction -- I got married, had kids of my own, started my own business, and prior to arriving in my role as an undergraduate advisor at Rausser College of Natural Resources, worked for 5 ½ years doing marketing data analytics for Cal Alumni Association.

My evenings and weekends are typically packed with water polo tournaments for my 15 year old son, Addison or volleyball tournaments for my 11 year old daughter, Hennessey, or swim meets for the both of them. Aside from soaking up every spare moment I can with my family and our two incredibly loving and loyal Golden Retrievers, I enjoy traveling, taking long walks, and baking/decorating some rather elaborate cakes. Fun fact about me: I hate cake!