When I look back over my years as a student and researcher, several things stand out as turning points in my career path. The first was when I started working for Academic Computing Services as an undergraduate student. At the time, I was unsure what I would do after I graduated. I knew that I wanted to go to graduate school, but I hadn’t decided what I would study. While I was working at the computer center, I had the opportunity to teach people about computers as well as learning more about them myself. They allowed us to take workshops about different types of software and to learn new while we had down time in the lab. I taught myself HTML and CSS while I was working there and built my first website for the KU Drumline.
My undergraduate majors were psychology and human development. My senior year I applied to be in the psychology honors program. As required by the program, I had to take a course and complete an honor’s thesis. I choose to work with Dr. Andrea Greenhoot who was a faculty member in both of the areas I was majoring in. In the Fall, I submitted an application for an Undergraduate Research Award and was selected to receive a $500 one for my project. I used the money to pay participants who completed surveys for my study. My study involved looking at kindergartner’s memories for social situations. I completed my study and was able to graduate with honors. Dr. Greenhoot continued the study and eventually wrote a research article that was published in the Journal of Cognition and Development.
When I was ready to start looking at graduate schools, I knew that I wanted to study Instructional Technology. I visited several schools in the Midwest, and decided that I wanted to attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK). UNK had a tuition remission program that allowed staff members to take courses at a reduced rate. I was hired by them to be a Software Technician so I was able to take advantage of this program. I worked full-time while I took coursework to finish my master’s degree part-time. I finished my degree in May of 2004. After finishing school in Kearney, I moved to Lincoln and began working for Native American Public Telecommunications as their Technology Coordinator. I worked for them for three years. While I was working there, I started taking classes again towards a PhD in Instructional Technology in 2005. In 2006, I began working for the College of Arts and Sciences at UNL as their Web Technical Associate. I held this position for a little over a year before I started working for the English Department in January 2008. I continued to take graduate courses while I worked and by 2015, I had completed over 90 hours of coursework.
In February of 2013, my son was born. My life was changed dramatically. I quit my job that winter so that I could care for him. I took about two years off of work before I returned part-time working for Lincoln Public Schools in February of 2015. At LPS, I held the roles of substitute teacher and para-educator. I worked in these two positions for over nine years before recently starting to work at Christ Lincoln Schools. I started there in the Fall of 2024. I have also reapplied to my graduate program and am planning to start taking courses in the Fall of 2025. I intend to finish my PhD as quickly as possible and then potentially start working full-time as a professor in an education program.