What are your career aspirations?

My internship abroad in Ireland deepened my love for travel. It also opened my eyes to how difficult it can be to find opportunities and resources as a first-generation, low-income student. For these reasons, I'd love to work in the travel and/or higher education industry. I'm passionate about aiding in the success of students and young professionals and helping them open doors to a world of opportunities such as study abroad.

What is your greatest strength?

I've been told I'm one of the best problem solvers. Even without all the pieces, I can find a solution to the puzzle. I'm also great at time management. I was part of the accelerated program at Northwest Missouri State University, so I overloaded on courses each semester. Even with my course load and working two campus jobs, I completed all work on time and graduated summa cum laude.

What does diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you?

DEI to me means actively and intentionally engaging with people from different social groups, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc. and using my privilege to help overcome bias, discrimination, and disparity. Coming from a small town of only about 1,100 people, I was not exposed to much diversity growing up. Attending Northwest Missouri State University allowed me to experience a little more diversity, and I made it a point to seek out opportunities to learn about how to be inclusive. I attended DEI trainings through the Career Pathing Program at NWMSU. Additionally, I participated in the X-Culture Global Collaboration Course, where I was on a team with five students from universities around the world and tasked with creating a high-quality business plan for a multinational company in Russia.