About Me

As an undergraduate student, I had difficulty identifying a single interest to pursue. I explored several different majors. I finally realized that what I really enjoyed was learning about new things and talking about them with people. I decided to major in electronic media and film, with a minor in journalism, because I was excited to apply the skills I would learn in those areas to helping people learn about new topics. These interests aligned in that they provided me opportunity document and relay information in creative, compelling ways. As my undergraduate program came to a close, my career goal was to work for a news organization or to work with a video or film production company.

After graduation, I did not feel ready to move from my home state of Michigan, which would have been necessary to pursue my career goals. I bounced from job to job, with occasional work doing freelance videography for local businesses and organizations. A few years later, a friend reached out and asked if I'd be interested in working with her at the local community college. I didn't realize at the time, but her suggestion would lead me into my lifelong career. 

Working at Washtenaw Community College, I produced videos for online courses, developing curricular content and working with faculty on adoption of new technology. I enjoyed working with subject matter experts as it gave me opportunity to learn about new topics and I also enjoyed helping them to develop their curriculum. I knew that the work I was doing was purposeful, as it all facilitated learners who needed the online medium for continuing education. This was my first interaction with instructional design and education technology, and I loved it.

At that same time, I was blessed to be working with several individuals with similar career goals. Per their recommendation I applied to Michigan State University's College of Education to pursue a master of arts in education technology (MAET). 

I didn't have long to wait for a career change. Within six months of being accepted to the MAET program, I had a surprising (and exciting) job change when I was offered an instructional design role - again MSUCOM, where I had worked for as an IT professional. This was not only a major achievement for me professionally, but also a boon to my education, as the lessons I learned in the MAET program were immediately practical in my new role. 

But I'm also looking forward to what's next. Upon completion of the MAET program, I'm looking forward to some additional free time to develop in new areas. First, I'd like to to explore opportunities to expand my skills as a teacher. I plan to do focus on improving my verbal communication skills, and I would like to look for opportunities to possibly teach part time, allowing me to practice some of the lessons I learned from MAET in a new setting. I am also interested in expanding my technical knowledge; specifically I would enjoy learning to code, and I'd like to work toward a project management certification. 

In my personal life, I'm looking forward to spending more time with my family; I'm excited to not constantly feel like there's an assignment I should be working on. I also plan to expand my role at my local church; there's opportunity to apply some of what I've learned in the MAET program to developing training materials for members who want to serve in different ways. And finally, I'm looking forward to finishing a couple of video games that I haven't had time to complete while working on this master's program 😊