I am currently working as an Academic Mentor for the Bepko Learning Center at IUPUI. I am a recitation leader for the BIOL-K 101 class and I also do weekly tutoring at the Biology Resource Center. Being able to get teaching experience as a recitation leader has helped me grow both academically and personally! I really enjoy planning for my sessions each week and reapplying all that I have learned from when I took the course to my students. I got to refine my public speaking skills as well after leading a weekly class of 30 students.

I have been training in dance for around 15 years and when I was in high school and even this past summer I got the chance to instruct ballet and yoga classes. In high school I got to substitute ballet classes for middle and elementary school students at the dance center I was trained at. I loved being able to work with kids while also teaching something I was very passionate about. This past summer I taught my own yoga class outdoors at a local lake for the St. John Parks and Recreation Department. I got the experience to create my own exercises, learn what worked and what didn't work as I taught, along with getting great feedback from the ladies I taught each week. When creating your own curriculum, each class can have a different outcome so you have to work with the class and learn to change plans last minute to accommodate with the class you are working with. I absolutely loved this experience, it taught me so much and I got to share something I was passionate about with others.

My love for dance always went along with my interest in anatomy. As a dancer it was crucial to understand what muscles were being used and how they were being used in order to create the right movements. As a teacher it was also just as important to understand that everyone's body worked differently and how to properly stretch muscles without creating strain or injuries. When I took anatomy for the first time in high school, I applied a lot of what I was learning into practice while I danced, and thought more about how the body worked in movement. I instantly fell in love with learning about anatomy just as I did when I first began dancing ballet.