"I chose SPH because I thought that we had a strong commitment to public health, DEI, and community health. Amidst growing challenges, I wasn’t sure that other schools would stand up for these values in the way that SPH would."
What was that moment in your life when you decided you wanted to study public health?
“I had a lot of different experiences that got me interested in public health, including creating a community health program as an undergrad sociology major, interning for a local county health department, working on a mental health workshop series with the Spanish-speaking population in Washington, and running afterschool programming for middle school students.”
What specific issue, problem, or area of research in public health do you care the most about and why?
“I want to support adolescents with the specific health experiences or challenges they face. I have worked in a few different settings that support adolescent health, including conducting research on existing substance use prevention education for SPH’s Cannabis Research Center and to help Minnesota schools meet legislative mandates. Doing this research helped me understand where the field has been and where it has the potential to go. I’m very passionate about figuring out what and how public health can do better to support young people.”
How would you like to help address or explore this issue?
“My philosophy is that I am not the sole expert. When making decisions on how to support adolescent health, I am going to get the perspectives of the young people I am working with. They have the agency to make decisions for their futures, and my role is to build relationships with them so they feel empowered and involved in decisions that affect their health.”
Are you currently involved in any public health research or professional work?
“I work at the University’s Sexual Misconduct Prevention Program (SMPP) supporting administration and prevention efforts. SMPP focuses on public health approaches to preventing sexual misconduct, and it has been a great learning experience! I also just wrapped up my applied practice experience with Hennepin County’s Better Together Hennepin (BTH) initiative. BTH funds health mentors in middle and high schools to provide sexual health-based educational programming, and I just finished evaluating and analyzing a classroom participant survey for BTH.”
Why did you choose to come to the U of M School of Public Health?
“My partner and I moved to Minneapolis in 2023, and we both fell in love with the city. I applied to a few schools, but the reason why I chose SPH was because I thought that we had a strong commitment to public health, DEI, and community health. Amidst growing challenges, I wasn’t sure that other schools would stand up for these values in the way that SPH would.”
What has been your favorite class so far?
“My favorite course was PUBH 6051: Community Health Promotion II taught by Eileen Delehanty. We spent the entire semester working on a grant proposal to address a public health problem we cared about, and it was great to have a semester to hone my grant writing skills. I also really liked PubH 6741: Ethics in Public Health taught by Sarah Gollust. We had so much thoughtful discussion and activities that forced us to think critically about public health ethics.”
What do you like to do when you’re not in class?
“I love to run! This is controversial, but I don’t like the summer. I like the sun, but I often get migraines from the heat and humidity, so I particularly like running in the fall and winter. Minneapolis has been great for that. My partner and I also love to travel, and having an international airport has made it easier to go to cool places. We went to Iceland last May, and went to Japan this past January. Finally, we love going to Lynx games!”
