Undergraduate Degree: University of North Carolina at Asheville - Bachelor in Arts, Mass Communications

Graduate Degree: Western Carolina University - Master of Arts Teaching, Social Sciences

A thirst for knowledge has always been my passion. But when I'm not teaching, my interests are a lot like the playlists on my iPod -- super, super different. Have you ever had a teacher trained in classical ballet who could also throw a perfect spiral? That's me. Weekends and evenings you'll probably find me buried in my Kindle or singing as I sew (yes, as in using a sewing machine or needle and thread.) I dabble in freelance writing, design my own greeting cards for friends in hand-lettered calligraphy, imagining a friend's face when she finds something other than bills in her mailbox. Or, my sister and I --born just 18 months apart -- might take a spur-of-the-moment drive with "our" baby, a 19-pound King Charles Cavalier Spaniel named Katie Rose Twinkletoes. Sundays you'll find me at the church in which I was raised, though lately I've have been attending virtually. My outdoor interests go from frostbite to broiling and all things in between. I've skied down the almost 7,000-foot Tom Terrific slope high in the Appalachian mountains and gone scuba diving deep beneath the Atlantic off the coast of Key West. I've listened to the old song "Ventura Highway" while driving on Ventura Highway in southern California and run with the wild horses on the unbridled, barrier island of the Ocracoke in North Carolina's Outer Banks. You might also find me on the patio here in Southern Indiana, sipping coffee, contemplating the day or taking in the majesty of a Midwestern sunset. One of my favorite pastimes is keeping in touch with an enormous family. My granddad was a western Kentucky coal miner who died of pneumonia the year before penicillin was discovered and grandparents on my dad's side were German bakers who went broke during the Great Depression so their friends could eat. I have not forgotten where I came from. My ancestors were humble and strong and sacrificed daily so I could be the first of more than 40 cousins to earn a bachelor's degree, which is part of why helping others break barriers is so important to me. So whatever road your academic journey takes you down, let me walk with you.