“Be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else.” –Judy Garland

An east coast native, I attended Princess Anne High School (‘97) in Virginia Beach and Old Dominion University (‘01) in Norfolk, VA, earning a BA in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing and a minor in Photography. In 2002, I moved to the Midwest to attend Indiana University-Bloomington (‘05), where I earned dual MAs in TESOL & Applied Linguistics and Computational Linguistics, as well as a graduate certificate in Instructional Systems Design (‘12)

I began my career teaching ESL to K-12 students for Virginia Beach City Schools. Then my interests in language learning technology led me to Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where I was the Director of the Language Learning Center, a multimedia lab for language learners, as well as an adjunct instructor in the English Department, intermittently teaching undergraduate and graduate courses on communication and writing. In 2009, I returned to Bloomington, IN to accept a position as Language Instruction Specialist at IU’s Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR) where I have spent 14 years working with less commonly taught language (LCTL) experts to design and develop curriculums and materials for more than 15 LCLT textbooks, over 30 language and culture pamphlets, and several asynchronous online courses. During this time, I also collaborated with faculty on a number of pedagogical research projects, resulting in numerous conference presentations and workshops, three scholarly articles, and one pedagogical textbook. Additionally, I have coordinated four iterations of the bi-annual Conference on Central Asian Languages and Linguistics (ConCALL) and hosted On the Silkroad with CeLCAR, an educational podcast featuring Central Asian guests talking about the people, culture, and languages of their countries! While at the Center, I was honored to be awarded IU's Center of Excellence for Women in Technology (CeWIT) and IU Women in IT (IUWIT) 2022 Outstanding Staff Mentor/Advocate for my work as a diligent and supportive mentor and advocate for women in technology.

In 2017, I added business owner to my resume when I started Hoosier Officiant, a secular officiant service offering customized wedding ceremonies. In just a few years, we have already officiated over 100 weddings while quickly becoming the #1 recommended officiant services in Southern Indiana by wedding venues and professionals.