What brought you to Trinity?
“I found the job before I found Trinity. … I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d work somewhere like this. It just wasn’t in my view. My undergrad was a large urban public institution, and I’ve mostly worked at larger public institutions, but each day, I’m really both excited and reminded of how cool it is: the different ways that we can support students in all sorts of different types of campuses.”
Do you have any spots you like in San Antonio and around campus that you’ve grown to really love?
“I went to the zoo because I love zoos. I’m kind of obsessed with hippos, which is a whole other conversation. And I walk around downtown a lot. I live downtown. I have a dog. His name is Duke. He’s an 11-year-old black lab. Every morning we go walk two and a half to three miles. We take different routes to the city. Pinkerton barbecue is not far from where I live, so that’s been pretty great.”
How did you get into working with students and higher education itself?
“It was the end of my sophomore year of college, and I just learned that I was elected to be the vice president of student life and student government, and then my sister called and said that our family house had been foreclosed on. So I had to go pick up all my child belongings off of our front lawn. I saw a mentor of mine who advised the program board, and she just knew something was wrong, and she came up to me, and she hugged me, and I just kind of fell apart in her arms in that moment. That is the moment I look back on as why I’m doing this work, right? I had this place that didn’t have to care about me help me still cross the finish line and help me still navigate all of the new challenges that that represented for me.”
What are you getting your doctorate in?
“My doctorate is in education policy studies from Georgia State … I study the intersection of campus ecology and sense of belonging. So how do the spaces on campus and interactions with them impact students feeling like they belong. So I’m queer, and having experienced the good and the bad of finding belonging on a college campus myself, I think it’s really important, especially in this moment in time where there’s lots of conversations going on about the LGBTQ community, and you know, it’s important that, to me, we always find ways to support and make sure that people feel seen and heard. And that may not always look like people want it to, right, but it’s always something that’s really important to me that we focus on and center on. How can we support those who are most marginalized or oppressed in society at large, make sure that they feel like they have a place on campus and in this community?”
Do you have a favorite book you read, either recently or of all time?
“Sheryl Sandberg wrote this book with Adam Grant, who’s a psychologist, called ‘Option B,’ after her husband died pretty abruptly. My mom died of pancreatic cancer when I was 26. … We didn’t know she had pancreatic cancer. We didn’t know any of it. And so, in ‘Option B,’ there’s one of these lines, and it’s something that I use in lots of areas of my life, which is ‘Option A’ is no longer an option, so let’s kick ass with ‘Option B.’”
Is there anything you want students to know about you?
“My hope is that students feel comfortable coming and talking to us and sharing what their challenges are, what their frustrations are. I jokingly say I’m happy to be your punching bag if you need me to be, not literally because that’s assault, but figuratively. Sometimes you just need a place to go to express your frustrations. Sometimes you just don’t know where to go, and I hope that I, in this office, can be a place for that.”
Is there any piece of advice you want to give to students?
“I used to be the director of orientation at Georgia State, and the first thing that I would tell students as part of their orientation day is that, from here on out, you’re the captain of your ship, right? We have resources. We have support. We have all of that, but you own your journey, right? The good and the bad, the consequences of the choices you make, the opportunities that you find. You’re in charge and you have a great team around you at Trinity who wants to help you be successful, and so like own your journey from here on out, but know that we’re here to support you and that all you have to do is raise your hand and we’ll be there to catch you and be there to support you.”
