education and performance
I discovered the term "short story" during Mrs. Tenpenny's first grade class. I wrote my own in the following 13 minutes about Layla the dog, and could not believe that I could choose to write a new story whenever I pleased.
When writing, I am first enamored with the way pens feel on paper, and second with the undeniable freedom of choosing what to write, and when and how to write it. I began swiping pens and notebooks from my father to write stories, poems, and letters, and have not stopped since.
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Below is the collegiate portion of my writing, teaching, and performance history. For all workshop and teaching inquiries, please send a message via the "contact me" page. Thank you.
Education
2016-2020
Washington University in St. Louis
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Mentoring and Teaching
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Competition
Educational Studies Bachelor's of Arts
Sociology minor
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At WashU in St. Louis I was able to delve into the creation, maintenance, and purpose of the education system. Because "education does not occur in a vacuum"
(Purdy, 2018), I also wanted to study the way that the education system in the US is affected by the political, social, racial, economical and religious climates that it is fostered in, and it's original purpose (to mold dependable, working, democratic citizens). I studied why societies come to function as they do, and how they develop customs, morals, and hierarchies, and earned a Sociology minor.
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As a WashU student I was also involved with mentoring programs like STRIVE for College and City Faces, and was an active participant in the TRiO Scholars Program. With WUSLAM I also taught 4th and 5th graders from Humboldt Academy about page and performance poetry, and together over the course of several months we worked to write and perform original pieces at the Humboldt Academy talent show, sponsored by Zulu Social and Pleasure Club.
I was a member of WUSLAM from 2016-2020, WashU's premier slam poetry group. In 2017 I coached the WashU team at the College and University Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI), and in 2019 was a competing poet.
WUSLAM placed in the Top 10 CUPSI teams in 2019.
