Your role as a student is to learn, not to already have the knowledge coming in – don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know things. You won’t learn anything new if you let people believe you already know it!

I love to bake aesthetically pleasing treats and build elaborate Harry Potter Lego sets.

A yes to something is a no to something else. I have to constantly evaluate what is of highest priority and will be the most beneficial in any given day. Some days, that includes early 2000’s pop-punk music to focus, and other days it’s walks or coffee breaks with my favorite classmates.

Your work should be important to you, but if you cannot communicate it in a way that resonates outside of your field, you miss the chance to engage people who might benefit from learning about what you do. The 3MT pushed me to translate my research into a message that anyone could find interesting.

Not to be too cheesy, but my research is inherently personal. I feel inordinately grateful that I get to interview and document parents’ experiences while walking through my own parenting journey. So I think I’m most proud of the fact that I was able to take something so personal and somehow convince my dissertation committee that this work is worthwhile and important enough to build an entire dissertation around it.

I’m grateful to have many wonderful mentors, both informally and formally. The ones that have been the most impactful have shown up first as human beings, and second as thoughtful scientists.

While my major was Chemistry, I went to undergrad on a partial Theatre scholarship 🙂

I think my biggest asset in this program has been my classmates. They have been milestone celebrators, problem solvers, and sanity checkers as needed. It’s so important to support each other.

I’m genuinely grateful for my kids and their unfiltered joy. The joy is such an anchor in a world that feels uncertain and unwieldy right now. Sometimes face painting on a Tuesday before 7am is just what the doctor ordered.

My reasons are twofold: 1)I have always loved to solve puzzles – crosswords, sudokus, you name it. While completing the daily NYT puzzles gives me a sense of satisfaction, I know it’s not impacting the world for the better. Having an Epidemiologist skillset allows me to try to solve problems with a purpose. And there is no shortage of problems needing to be solved! 2) Good Public Health work is inherently relational – it’s hard to approach any issue without being confronted with some important aspect of the human experience. I find this piece of the work especially fulfilling and humbling.