I was born a UofL fan, my dad had a bumper sticker that said “My Child and my money will go to UofL”. I always remember being a UofL fan, so to much of my surprise I didn’t want to go to UofL for undergrad. It was only 30 minutes from home, and I wanted to be farther away from home for undergrad. I chose Western Kentucky University. After graduating with a psychology degree, and not knowing at all what I wanted to do with that degree, I worked a lot of odd jobs. I was a restaurant manager, I was an administrative assistant, and during the height of the 2008 financial crisis and all time high unemployment rates I found a job as a bank teller. 
I knew I didn’t want to be a bank teller, that was not my passion in life. Finally, I realized I would need to go to grad school, but I had no idea what I wanted to focus my career on. While searching through UofL’s grad programs I came across College Student Personnel, I realized “I liked college, I could work with college students.” So I decided to apply with no real experience in student affairs at all.
As a first generation college student, I had no one to point me in the right direction during college, I wanted to be that for someone else and UofL was going to help me get to that point. I got a Grad Assistantship with Financial Aid (ironically they liked that I had been a bank teller and knew how to talk to people about their financial needs), I took as many internships as I could fit into my schedule, and I grew as a person! I graduated with so much knowledge and eye opening experiences. UofL helped mold me into the person I want to be.
After Grad School I worked for two years at IUS in their Housing Department, and then three years back on UofL’s Campus Housing department. While I worked at Kurz Hall, I was able to help those student’s I always said I wanted to help, I made an impact on 400 students who lived in Kurz Hall. My goal was to always help just one student who was like me; lost without direction, or someone to push them in the right direction. When I see that light in my student’s eyes, I know I have come one step closer to my goal.