I grew up in Utah and went to school at BYU. Early on, studying Psychology sparked my interest. I was fascinated in learning about how people work, and I spent time in my undergrad studying the brain. Over the span of my professional career, I have been able to apply that passion to figuring out what is needed to help a student best succeed in school and in social relationships. My favorite part of conducting evaluations is the part where you pull all the information together and can make practical suggestions of what comes next for the person, such as, what needs to be taught or what classroom/workplace accommodations can make a meaningful difference for this person.

After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in 2009, I spent a year preparing for graduate school. I spent this time working in a treatment center for parents overcoming addiction problems. I remember feeling frustrated that I didn’t know enough to be more helpful. This solidified my desire to go back to school. At the same time, I had close family members and friends working as teachers, who were quite open with me about the stress and challenges they faced in the schools. Seeing these types of struggles up close drew me to study School Psychology.