About Me.
I am a senior studying Criminal Justice with a minor in Asian Studies and a Legal Studies Certificate. I am interested in Criminal Law and Civil Rights issues. I began wanting to take action in the justice system when learning about wrongful convictions and the harmful impacts of mass incarceration. In 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned, I realized I also had a passion for advocacy and organizing around political issues. What makes me unique is my ability to take on so many different tasks or abilities at once. While taking 18 credit hours of courses, I am a research assistant for my professor's dissertation project on school shooting prevention and awareness, on two executive boards for campus organizations that focus on advocacy and organizing, a member of the Honors Program, and a member of the nationally recognized University of Cincinnati Dance Team. In my free time, I enjoy reading and watching early 2000's movies.
Involvement/Interests
Here are some things I am involved in on campus!
Dance Team
I am a freshman on the University of Cincinnati's dance team! We dance at football, basketball and volleyball games, along with competing at the annual UDA nationals in Januarary as a D1A dance team.
Criminal Justice Society
After joining the Criminal Justice Society, I was offered many volunteering opportunities, including tutoring grades 1-8 and working with the UC Police Department to create a safer campus. We work to help others and prevent crime from occurring on campus.
2023-2024
My first year as a college student was a year of growth, resilience and perseverance. I grew not only as a student but as a person. I found my passion in learning about the Law and have learned so much about myself. Coming into college I felt scared. I felt unprepared, nervous, and most importantly, I was lacking knowledge about myself. From the outside looking in, it seemed as if I had it all figured out. I am an honors program Pre-Law student that was fortunate enough to make the dance team. I took all my classes very seriously, continuing to maintain a 4.0 through each semester. The real challenges came when I realized I needed to know more about myself and where I want to go in life.
​
Dance has always been such a crucial part of my life, and making the dance team at this school was the deciding factor as to why I came here. I found myself becoming too consumed in dance, as politics began in which dancers were being selected. I fell to a really dark point where I felt that the main part of me that I have always known was being lost. I was losing myself trying to be good enough for the coaches and always comparing myself to others. It was at this point where I started studying less. One of my teachers noticed that when I would initially submit assignments as soon as they were released, I began dragging my feet and waiting until the last minute. I realized I needed to put my academics first and preserve through whatever was going on outside of school. I was able to keep straight A’s and once I realized I was smart enough to succeed in college, I began making connections with workers in the legal field.
​
I spent the rest of the year finding myself and making connections with people who will hold me accountable. With so much going on in my life, it is important that I have a network of people to count on. I confided in the head of the Criminal Justice Society, Sue Bourke, and began going to networking events like the Law School Fair and visiting places I might work at. Building the connections within the Criminal Justice Society have helped push me to stay on track with my classes and set me up for success after graduation. As I continue growing as a person and looking deeper into myself, I will utilize this tight-knit community of students while finding exactly what I will do after graduation. I am certainly not done growing, and will continue on leading as an honors program student, in and out of the class. Overall this year was meant for me to adjust to life in college and figure out what the next steps are while I am here. From now on, I will continue to hold myself to a high standard and take accountability while having help from the community of students, professors, and teammates that I have.
Year one
Hosting numerous training clinics for hopeful recruits was so rewarding.
I am so thankful to have been able to cheer on the Bearcats every home game this seaon.
My UC spirit only grew stronger with each game. Walking through all the fans while wearing the C paw is such an unreal experience.
I enjoyed a workshop for student athletes to strengthen LinkedIn profiles.
I loved being able to visit the Hamilton County Coroner and Crime Lab.
I was able to learn about numerous law school programs and network with lawyers.
I was able to see how cameras in downtown Cincinnati are used to prevent crime.
After a semester of tutoring a few students in several subjects, we took a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to celebrate a great year.
I loved joining other students in my major to celebrate our Dean's successful career at UC before his departure.
Year two
2024-2025
My definition of a Global Citizen Scholar is someone who leads by example and promotes social justice globally. I was able to grow as a Global Citizen Scholar in many ways this year. I became more passionate about certain social justice issues that impact everyone, and became a stronger leader. This year was a year of finding myself and stepping into leadership positions on and off campus. I was able to become more involved in organizations on campus, like the UC chapter of the Ohio Student Association and the ACLU Campus Action Team. I found my voice through testifying at the statehouse against a bill that would inhibit academic freedom in colleges. I lobbied at the statehouse, meeting with numerous representatives, urging them to add mental health services for college students into the budget. I attended the ACLU statewide conference and learned so much about how to lead "Know Your Rights" sessions and how to make an impact on campus. I went to protests to fight for DEI as rollbacks were happening at the state and federal levels. I could truly find my niche and where I belong on campus.
​
I also found how to lead in the classroom as a Global Citizen Scholar, as I consistently engaged in classroom discussion and received the highest grades I have ever gotten this past semester. I was a very active student in Criminal Law specifically, and when it came time for my professor to select her research assistants for her dissertation project, I was selected. I was beyond thrilled to receive this recognition from my professor and used this opportunity to submit a self-designed experience. Through this experience, I learned so many valuable skills that have helped me find myself as a Global Citizen Scholar. I also completed an honors experience through my completion of Honors English 2089. This English class granted me the opportunity to work closely with my honors program peers, and it pushed me to become a better writer.
​
Outside of the classroom, I was working hard as a member of the UC Dance Team. I competed in nationals for the first time this year and discovered a newfound confidence in my dance and leadership abilities on the stage. I strived to continue to be positive and was a great example to some other underclassmen. Last year I had put all my effort towards trying to fit in at school or dance, but this year I was able to work hard in practice, in a class, and i extracurriculars. I found that my pursuit of social justice enabled me to become a more effective and confident leader. I used to feel uncomfortable when I had to describe ways I exhibited Global Citizen Scholars traits because I didn't truly feel like I could call myself one yet. This year finding my voice and pushing for equality everywhere has led me to realize I have made much more progress towards becoming a Global Citizen Scholar.
UC basketball game
Opponent Testimony Senate Bill 1
Communications Chair UC Campus Action Team
UDA Nationals 2025
Fighting for DEI
Treasurer UC Ohio Student Association
Honors Experience 1
HONORS ENGL 2089
My first honors experience was taking the honors course of Intermediate Composition, and I thoroughly enjoyed taking the class. It involved reading numerous pieces of literature and discussing them in class, along with writing four essays throughout the semester. I loved the broad prompts for all the writings as it gave me the freedom to write about issues specifically regarding my major and career choice. I found my voice in writing and received daily one-on-one feedback from the professor, which was extremely beneficial. Initially, I struggled with minor grammar issues and worked hard in and out of class to fix my mistakes. I grew not only as a grammatical writer but also as a creative writer, as I was able to explore areas of study that were fascinating to me. I learned how to become a better student and writer in many ways, and learned that if I put in the work, I will see great results. This class impacted me deeply, as it challenged me and helped me better understand how I deal with adversity in academics, and how I can persevere and end up with a high A in the class. The end grade was not the only thing that mattered to me, but it was the experience and learning processes that took place throughout the semester that truly mattered. Attached below is a research essay I wrote in the class.
Honors Experience 2:
Self Designed
Research Assistant Experience
My second honors experience was aimed at fostering academic and professional growth through my research on school shooting preparedness and factors that may lead to them. Through this experience, I have completed thorough research and strengthened my data analysis skills. One of my main goals was to increase my confidence in my research abilities. By spending hours reading and learning, I became more knowledgeable on the subject, which enabled me to become more confident. I read the books “Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People” by Dennis A. Hengin, and Stop Teaching Our Kids To Kill by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and Gloria Degaetano. These books not only helped me better understand why kids commit mass murders in school, but also offered insight into how guns provide a much more lethal and effective way of committing these mass murders. I annotated each book and made sure to put important takeaways in my blog, as I kept an ongoing reflection throughout the process. Additionally, I had weekly Zoom meetings with my mentor regarding next steps with research. My mentor shared resources for interview note-taking and coding for survey responses. I also worked towards my goal of informing 20 students of the research findings to better prepare students at the University of Cincinnati for a possible active threat or school shooting. I shared the information I learned to my ACLU Campus Action Team peers. I was able to grow more as a Global Citizen Scholar with this experience, as this research is vital to protecting kids and teens all over the world. Overall, I gained both academic and professional skills throughout this experience and will continue to refine these skills in future research.
I have attached a blog entry to demonstrate the ongoing reflection throughout the experience.
Honors Experience 3:
Global Religion and Politics (POL 3062)
This honors experience was very enlightening, as I learned a great deal throughout the course about religion and politics from a global perspective. I read numerous articles about many religions and how political actions or laws could hinder religious freedom. During the duration of the course, we attended two museums as a class, which I found very interesting. The first was the Freedom Center, where I learned a great deal about the transformation of biblical texts and how they have been interpreted differently to include equality for women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and minorities. The second museum was the Hebrew Union College, where I learned about the history of Judaism and traditions common in the religion. These experiences of learning outside of the classroom enabled me to gain a better understanding of the history of many religions. I also completed four reading response papers, led a class discussion regarding our assigned readings, and created a final presentation about the restrictions on religion in China and the implications of Sinicization. Overall, this course prepared me to become an effective global citizen scholar because I learned a great amount about global religion, the lack of religious freedoms, strict laws abroad regarding religion, and how extreme political landscapes can impact religion.
Honors Experience 4:
Self Designed
Impact Through Dance
My second honors experience was aimed at expanding my dance experience and strengthening my understanding of numerous styles of dance across many cultures. I had the privilege of competing at the Universal Dance Association College Nationals, and it was such an inspiring experience. I learned new styles of dance, each one originating in a different country, and reflected on my experience and takeaways. I thoroughly researched how marginalized communities are impacted by dance through reading Nyama McCarthy-Brown’s Dance Pedagogy for a Diverse World: Culturally Relevant Teaching in Theory, Research and Practice, and analyzed the intersection of dance politics and social constraints utilizing Katerina Paramana and Anita Gonzalez’s Performance, Dance and Political Economy: In Conversation (Dance in Dialogue). This experience enabled me to understand dance and its origins in a new light, as I had to grapple with my own biases and learn about how to become an effective dance teacher who promotes an inclusive classroom. I hope to take what I have learned and implement it into my teaching practices, as I will take time to understand each dancer's life experiences and teach my students the importance of diversity in dance. Dance is a universal form of communication, and understanding new forms of dance while learning the history and impact of it allows me to become an effective Global Citizen Scholar. I have attached a journal entry to give insight into the learning process throughout this experience.
Honors Experience 5:
Social Work in Italy & USA
My final honors experience is my study abroad course titled Social Work in Italy & USA. This course allows us to work with Italian students in Trento on a group project analyzing how communities can better respond to poverty and social inequalities in the social work field. This experience has allowed me to understand a wide array of perspectives and engage in scholarly work with students abroad. I have learned an incredible amount about how social polices and welfare programs are implemented in the United States, and have begun comparatively reflecting on these experiences in different contexts. It has allowed me to better understand the intersection of structural factors and personal experiences, which is an important analysis for effectively addressing inequalities. This experience has impacted me greatly, as it has granted an incredible opportunity to travel abroad and experience different communities firsthand. I hope to take what I have learned abroad and implement it in the United States to advocate for effective policies that address inequalities. This has also influenced my definition of what being a Global Citizen Scholar entails, as I am able to learn about social systems on a global scale and gain experience in a foreign country. This study abroad opportunity has granted me a deep understanding of structural inequality, and it has ignited a passion in me to combat these inequalities through effective social interventions.
Gateway
Senior year of high school, I had the honor of being accepted into my school's DECA program. DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, and it was a marketing and business program that allowed high school students to compete at a district, state, and then international level in many different categories. The category my partner, Sofia Gustafson, and I competed in was "Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making". In this specific category, at each competition, we had to complete a 100-question buying and merchandising exam that would contribute to 30% of our total score, and then the remaining 70% was based on our presentation in response to a given prompt. After receiving first overall at the district competition, and then second overall at the state competition, we qualified to compete internationally against the top marketing students in the world. At internationals, we competed against over 200 other teams and made it to the finals, where we competed once again and received top-ten recognition. Along with being in the top ten in our specific category, earlier in the year we submitted a video for amazons campaign challenge about counterfeit products, and out of all the submissions we received second overall.
​
This experience not only promoted networking for myself but also made me realize how much I love marketing. It introduced the marketing world to me and gave me the confidence I needed to pursue marketing in the future. I found that it came naturally to me, and pushed me to enroll in marketing classes here at UC. It changed my perspective on what I want to do in the future. I am interested in owning a law firm in the future, simply because I love the marketing aspect of it, and this experience was so influential and memorable.
Linked below is the video.
https://youtu.be/QT79PQnUvE8?si=BnRdkHmH46MpUvyW
