I grew up in a tiny farm town in northern Illinois. When I was in high school, I decided to be a teacher because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives with my everyday work. I have always loved reading, writing, and languages, so literacy was a natural choice!

I graduated from Rock Valley Community College in 2009, and transferred to North Park University, where I graduated in 2011 with a bachelor of arts in education. Before North Lake, I taught English language arts in Sharon, WI, and Freeport, IL.