I am a native of Belleville, Illinois, a suburb located a short drive from St. Louis, Missouri on the other side of the Mississippi. Accordingly, I've been a lifelong fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, and I enjoy an occasional trip to Wrigley for an excuse to sit outside and watch the Cards play the Cubs. I received a BBA in Management and the Hamilton Award for Management from the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, for graduating at the top of my major. I have been an active member of the Notre Dame Alumni Association and I cheer on the football team on or off campus whenever I can.
I spent my grad school years working at the University of Rochester, braving the lake effect snow, and discovering a love of summer I never knew I had growing up. In Rochester I was active in the Couchsurfing community as well as the Notre Dame Club of Rochester, serving as secretary of the latter. I also began running competitively, and I've enjoyed competitive races and triathalons in Mississippi, Tennessee, New York, France, and Illinois. Since I arrived in Oxford, I've been active with Run Oxford and do group runs multiple times a week with the great people in the club.
Photo by Catherine Noiriel
Living in Toulouse, France was a wonderful experience, and during my time there I was able to pick up a conversational comfort with French and enjoy practicing it whenever I can. I also interned for seven months for a member of the US House of Representatives in 2006 rather than studying abroad. I had a great time exploring the ins and outs of life in Congress and in the US Capitol, making friends with whom I still keep in contact. However, I worked for the Office of International Studies at Notre Dame and after a long wait I was very happy to make up for lost time and explore Europe and the Middle East with my time living overseas. In the last few years I've loved exploring French and southern culture (and both cultures' expertise in preparing pork) and I have been thoroughly enjoying exploring Mississippi and all of the culture it has to offer since I arrived at Ole Miss.
I also love playing board games and play often with friends, and try to work simulations into my classes whenever possible.
My Erdös number is 5.