About
What is your advising philosophy? My goal as an advisor is to help students build self-confidence, learn skills, and gain experiences to meet their academic goals and follow their unique path. I aim to create a warm, friendly, and welcoming environment where students feel comfortable being themselves and asking me absolutely any questions they have. Universities can seem overwhelming at times, especially for students who don’t quite feel like they belong or don’t feel at home at U of M yet. I was the first in my family to go to college, and my experiences resulted in a passion for holistically supporting students and helping them learn the unwritten rules that will help them succeed.
What was your path to Newnan? Prior to joining Newnan, I worked at Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio for almost 15 years. I was Professor of Geography for my first 11.5 years at Owens. Then, for about 3.5 years, I served as Chair of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department which included the academic areas of Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. Over the years, I realized that my passion was working directly with students so I was thrilled at the opportunity to join Newnan and the College of LSA as an academic advisor.
Why did you join Newnan? I joined Newnan because I love working with students one-on-one and holistically helping to support their success. I enjoy connecting students to resources and helping them problem-solve. I was immediately drawn to the welcoming energy of the people here at Newnan and how they genuinely cared about supporting students. It was the perfect fit for me.
Class you loved and why? My favorite class was Mountain Geography, taught by Dr. Kevin Blake at Kansas State University. Not only did we learn about the physical geography, geology, and climate of mountain environments, but also the significance of mountains in literature, poetry, art, and spiritual traditions. For me, this was the perfect example what studying the liberal arts and sciences has to offer!
Interests and hobbies: I enjoy hiking and watching live music (especially at The Ark), and I also recently started beekeeping! I love all things baseball, including traveling to baseball stadiums, listening to baseball games on the radio, and managing a fantasy baseball league. I’m especially interested in issues related to social and environmental justice, and I love talking about maps, linguistic geography, Appalachia and West Virginia (where I grew up).
