Graduation Year: 2021

Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada

Major: Elementary Education

Share your experience with the Honors College:

The most helpful thing that I learned in the honors college was how to express my own individual thoughts. I feel that my Intellectual Traditions courses, as much as I didn’t like them, truly did improve my writing and thinking abilities. I feel comfortable and confident expressing my unique academic perspective in the workspace. The fact that I completed my honors thesis I feel is proof to myself and my employers that I can start a big project and see it all the way through, with attention to detail and organization.

Tell us what you’ve been up to or future plans:

After graduating college, I moved back to Las Vegas and took a teaching position at a charter school. Teacher burnout was the subject of my honors thesis, and I left after my first year of teaching. I was determined to find a better work-life balance for myself and still contribute to the world of education. That summer, I started applying to other jobs and created an education children’s podcast called Cozy Rainbow Podcast. I sell listening comprehension lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers. I am taking classes toward getting a master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology.

I currently work for the University of Nevada, Reno Extension in Las Vegas for 4-H. I had never heard of 4-H before, probably because I’m from Las Vegas. 4-H is the largest and oldest youth development program in the country. Each state has an office affiliated with their land grant university. I work as an assistant coordinator, where I still get to work with kids. My favorite part of my current job is being able to be creative in so many processes– planning events, choosing curriculum I want to teach, being able to do all the “fun” stuff I wasn’t able to do as a full-time teacher.