I discovered my passion for archival work as a freshman at Florida State University when I took a history course associated with the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience. I spent a semester working on a group project to select, transcribe, digitize, and create a headnote for one of the Institute's women's collections. I enjoyed that experience so much that I was inspired to pursue a second major in history and maintained my involvement with the Institute until I graduated. In those years, I worked as a student, archival assistant, and finally, senior assistant.

In the summer between graduating from FSU and beginning my MSIS program at UT Austin, I completed an internship with the U.S. Army War College Library and the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, where I continued my focus on military history and women's history. During my first semester at UT Austin, I completed a practicum at the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture & Sports as part of my Introduction to Archival Enterprise I coursework. I was also hired by The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, first for the Clendenin Endowed Graduate Internship in Military History, then as an intern for the Congressman Jack Brooks Digitization Project, where I continue to work today.

Over the years, I've gained archival work experience in processing; authoring finding aids; writing, tracking, and mapping metadata; using archive software, including Archon, ArchivesSpace, Omeka, and Islandora; research assistance; and digitization. I have several years of experience specializing in U.S. military history and women's history and am currently specializing in a project related to U.S. Congressional history with an emphasis on the second half of the twentieth century. My archival work experience has always been in academic settings, but I am excited to pursue opportunities in government and corporate settings, as well.

I believe the impact of global climate change is one of the greatest threats to the goals of archival institutions and I would love to work with an archival institution that acknowledges this threat and is actively working to mitigate its own contributions to this global issue. If the core mission of archives is to preserve information in posterity, we must do so in an environmentally sustainable way. I look forward to opportunities where I can apply my knowledge of archival theory and processing, as well as collections stewardship, including materials preservation.