I was first in my family to attend college and I hold both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Sociocultural Linguistics. In my research, I have combined qualitative and quantitative data analyses to learn more about the intersection of language and identity on a college campus. My data was gathered by interviewing first-generation undergraduate students from the central Appalachian Mountain region who were attending a university in a small city more than an hour drive from their home counties.
I began working with the McNair Scholars Program during its return to CU Boulder in 2017. Being from a first-generation, low-income background myself, I feel especially passionate about the mission of this prestigious, nationally recognized program to support students in their pursuit of graduate studies. I am excited to be able to work with McNair Scholars again as we continue in our second 5-year funding & programming cycle.