The varied experiences and opportunities I had had while I was a graduate student and an assistant professor prepared me with skills that transferred beyond the professorship. For example, the writing, research, and editorial experience I gained in the Hispanic linguistics program and through a graduate assistantship with the journal Studies in Second Language Acquisition (which was, at that time, housed at IU) as well as my experience applying for grants at UAlbany, helped me land a job as a Proposal Development Specialist within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at (then) IUPUI. I later worked as a Research Scientist on a grant-funded bilingual survey research project within the School of Public Health at IU Bloomington—a job in which my language skills as well as my writing and research experience also served me well. I then returned to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese to work as a Lecturer and Course Supervisor from 2021-2024. Throughout this time, I continued to research and publish on second language acquisition and research methods. 

Then, in September 2024, I took over as the Director of the IU Honors Program in Foreign Languages (IUHPFL), a rather full-circle opportunity that I am grateful to have. This unique gem of a program—a total-immersion summer study abroad program for Indiana high school schools—is what propelled my own educational and career path. As a shy high school junior from Fort Wayne, Indiana, I spent a summer in Valencia, Spain taking classes taught by IU graduate students, living with an amazing host family, and making advances in my communicative language skills that far exceeded my own expectations. When I returned to IU for my Ph.D., I applied to work for IUHPFL and spent two wonderful summers in Mérida, Mexico teaching classes and leading Indiana high school students through their own life-changing language learning and international exchange experiences. Now, 22 years after my own (first) IUHPFL experience, I am honored to lead the program and excited to have the opportunity to apply my training and previous experiences with second language acquisition and language teaching in this important role that serves my home state and its students in such a unique and transformative way.

I am incredibly grateful for my time and training in/with the IU Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Kim Geeslin, in particular, pushed me to work hard, think critically, be precise, and take advantage of every opportunity. Her encouragement and example of pursuing meaningful work, doing things differently, and being willing to take on new challenges has contributed immensely to my own rather non-traditional but rewarding path.