Biography

Ever since I was 7 years old, I knew I wanted to be a teacher someday.  I was the kind of kid who would take the extra worksheets home from school.  I set up a classroom of my own in the basement and put my younger brother and sister to work.  I  realized I wanted to be a writer around the same time.  I’ve got pages and pages of old stories, poems, and terrible pop songs.  (It was the 80s. What can I say? My very best lyric: “I got this crazy feeling when I saw you at the mall.”)    When I used to imagine my life, I saw myself  living in a house on a hill with a little pond out back—a quiet place where I could write and be myself. Actually, that whole thing still sounds really good to me.

I first came to Ithaca College when I was 17 years old.  I started out as a Psychology major, switched to Exploratory, and ended up a Planned Studies major and Writing minor. When I took Personal Essay as a junior,  I began to realize what kind of writer and teacher I hoped to be someday. I took a few years off after graduation, worked as a massage therapist and office manager, and then went back to school. I got my MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College.  I’ve been teaching here since 2005. I really enjoy working with my students and being a part of the IC community. 

Areas

• composition
• personal essay/memoir
• creative nonfiction
• women's studies

Degrees

• M.F.A. Creative Nonfiction, Goucher College, 2005
• B.A. Planned Studies, Ithaca College, 1998