About Me

I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, TX, and decided around the age of 8 that astronomy sounded like a cool thing to do. I chased that goal all the way through high school, trying on a few hobbies along the way. I sang in choirs, I played viola in the orchestra, I acted in a few plays and a student film, and I really really liked my French classes. In spring 2012, my sophomore year of high school, I learned just how diligently I could chase a goal. I experienced a midgut volvulus, or a twisting of the intestine, resulting in emergency surgery and three months in the hospital. After taking a few months to heal, I returned to school in the fall and finished out my International Baccalaureate Diploma.

After I finished high school, I attended Rice University where I earned a BA in astronomy and French Studies. Again, I learned just how much I could commit to something that mattered to me. I experienced yet another volvulus, resulting in an all-too-familiar month of hospitalization I took a semester of medical leave (if you're considering taking leave, I say you should almost always do it) and came back to finish my degree, wrapping up in December 2018. I sang in an a cappella group the whole time, The Rice Philharmonics, and that honestly kept me going.

After undergrad, I pursued an MS in physics at Fisk University through the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge Program. I started a PhD in astrophysics at Vanderbilt University in 2021, and now I'm just trying to keep breathing. All of my experiences have shaped my approach to life, science, people, and everything in between and outside. After I finish school, I'd like to pivot to science education and communication, specifically directing a planetarium or the astronomy wing of a museum, or something of that nature.