I am a graduate of Western Illinois University were I earned both my Bachelors and Masters degrees in biology. After a couple years working in a research lab I had an opportunity to begin a new career teaching biology at a community college. I have been doing so for 19 years now and I love it! The great thing about teaching community college is that my classes are small and I teach both the lecture and lab. This allows me to really interact with my students and get to know them. I tutor in general biology and anatomy and physiology. At the college, I specialize in teaching anatomy and physiology to nursing students. A&P is my favorite subject, I love the complexity of it and breaking that complexity down into understandable bits.

I have developed a very successful teaching/tutoring style from my years of experience working with students and my love of reading books about how the brain works. I make the material relatable. Every lesson begins by building on existing knowledge. I begin with what the student already knows about the subject then build on that using analogies to pop culture and student interests to make the science material easier to understand and integrate into the brain. I use frequent questions to make sure the student understands as we move through the lesson. Helping the student to develop a true understanding of the material, not just temporary memorization, is my ultimate goal.

I have many things that fulfill my life when I am not teaching and tutoring. My husband and I have 3 sons. Our oldest is serving in the Air Force and our younger two are in high school. Sports fills a lot of my life. Collectively my kids are in baseball, football, basketball, and track. We also enjoy watching professional sports on TV and going to live games. Every summer we make a point of going to some local minor league baseball games. We even made it to an NBA game once to watch the Bulls and Spurs.

My home is on a farm. I love living out in the country. We have several acres of woods just outside my door where I enjoy walking the trails with my dogs Daisy and Buddy. We have a pond that we swim and fish in and a corn/soybean field behind the house. I have a small pasture and barn that I use to raise cattle. One of the best things about living on a farm is having bonfires on fall evenings. Nothings beats sitting out under the stars making s'mores with family and friends.