Associate Director for Student Communication
About
What is your advising philosophy? My approach is a holistic one. I strive to get to know my advisees not just as students but as people: what matters to them? What excites them? What do they want to accomplish during their time at Michigan—and beyond? My job is to then help translate the answers to these questions into thoughtful choices—and if there aren’t any answers yet to be had, together devise a plan to get them. I also aim to be that non-judgmental port in the storm when things go awry, to help students learn from and move through the challenges they will inevitably encounter.
What was your path to Newnan? I was first intrigued by advising as an undergrad, when I had the privilege of developing close relationships with several mentors who had a profound impact on my own personal and academic trajectory (and luckily, most of those relationships continue to this day!). But they all had PhDs, so after a brief foray into non-profit and arts administration in New York City, I went off to get one of my own, in Communication. Along the way I had the opportunity to do some really interesting research (on craft culture and Etsy; on the design of romance novel covers; on the way television shows depict media industries), all while cementing my interest in students by teaching a number of undergraduate courses and working in residential education.
What do you enjoy about working in Newnan? The students and my colleagues! I learn so much from both on a daily basis.
Class you loved and why? Fictional Representations of the Holocaust. The content and the questions it raised were fascinating (if heartbreaking), and the class introduced me to graphic novels by way of Art Spiegelman’s Maus. This led to a full-on obsession with graphic fiction, a perfect combination of my interests in literature and visual art, and I ended up writing my undergraduate thesis on autobiographical graphic novels.
Interests and Hobbies I love hanging out with my family and friends, hiking and being outside, reading, cooking, eating good food and drinking good coffee.
