I am a designer who discovered a passion for the field of Architecture and Design while poking holes into my dads wooden drafting table with his compass tool. Yes, my dad was really upset with me because his hand drafts will not be as clean but this is where he began to teach me about what his job was at the ship yard in Norfolk, VA. He began to show me how the tools worked and what he could draw with precision by hand. 

It wasn't until I was 21 when I realized that my passion for design was ready to be brought out through formal education. At this time I was full time active duty and beginning college on my own at The Art Institutes of California San Diego. After two years at that college, I had to take a break due to a serious injury I sustained that then would end my career in the military. In 2014, two years after my injury, I began attending The NewSchool of Architecture and Design because I wanted a more in depth education and to be surrounded by like minded individuals within the field. 

Through this college, I excelled at researching and developing the creative thought process for any concept that I created, whether in studio or in a general education class. During my junior year, I had an amazing opportunity to study abroad in Milano, Italy for three months in the spring of 2016. I worked along side Gianandrea Barreca who designed Milano's coveted Bosco Verticale, Vertical Forrest, and really experienced an in depth perspective of where design and critical thinking come into play through Italian design.

During my senior year in college, I began working as a Space Planning Intern at General Atomics in San Diego, CA. Within the first days of working for this company, my director tells me that I will not be treated like your typical intern and will work on projects and be involved in projects like a full time employee. While balancing working on projects at GA that have totaled over 200,000 sq ft of office space modifications and project coordinations and two major projects at school, including my thesis, I was able to accomplish making the Dean's List, President's List, and graduating as Magna Cum Laude in the Interior Architecture and Design program. 

My education and experiences have taught me a critical lesson: design is design is design, no matter what part of design you are in, there is always room to understand and grow to learn other fields of design and create a "sideways" perspective for design. Collaboration between different design fields is crucial for the future of our world. I am so thankful that I have taken a chance on this career path that I'm on and I am excited to see where the future takes me.