In 2012, I graduated with honors from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, and I plan to apply for doctoral programs in neuroscience next year. I taught small-group study sessions for BIO 101 and 102 as an "SI study group leader" for three years at ASU. I have also worked as a teaching assistant for a college composition course and a biostatistics course, as well as a independant tutor in math, biology, history, and standardized test prep. More than any other experience, the three years as an SI leader helped me grow my leadership and tutoring skills, as well as my love of teaching. SI leaders use the challenges posed by high-risk/high-failure courses to guide undergraduates to discover, not just "what to learn," but also "how to learn." Knowing how to learn and how to obtain information is a skill demonstrated by multiple research studies to predict success in advanced classwork as well as in post-academic careers. My goal for each session was to get students collaborating in a focused manner, learning how to teach themselves and teach others based on the resources at hand. As these study sessions were voluntary for students, I might work with 1 student or 20 students in a session - sometimes as many as 100 students would attend before exams! I might only see a student for 1 or 2 hours each week, and I want to make sure they can apply skills they develop with me to the time they study alone. I also love finding uncovering unique ways to help students make their learning relatable and retainable. Understanding is always more permanent than memorizing!

Dance, hiking, costume making, yoga, travel, archery, (and more dance!)