
I went to college wanting to work with microorganisms. While attending Texas Woman's University, I found my love for working in the lab. My love for working in a biology lab was strengthened when I got to apply the knowledge I collected in my first years of college to my research with Dr.Maier. The longer I worked in undergrad research, the more things I found I enjoyed. I love reading research journals within the field of fungal endophyte. I love looking at wet mount slides of fungal spores under the microscope. I love presenting my work on fungal endophyte to a wide variety of audiences. I love the new opportunities I got to experience because I do undergrad research. I love the collaborations I got to make with students at Texas Woman's University and Michigan State University.
While at Texas Woman's University, I joined Chi Alpha campus ministries. I thought that when I didn't choose music education as my major, I would have to give up my passion for music. A pastor realized my passion for music included learning new instruments. He let me borrow the ministry's bass to learn how to play a stringed instrument. I was able to take the knowledge I developed playing tuba for 8 years and apply the basics of music to learning bass guitar. The confidence from learning a new instrument encouraged me to try going on a mission trip. While on a mission trip, I found my preferred form of community service is physical labor. This included washing dishes, painting the walls of a church, and using a sledgehammer to demo an old porch.
While working at Hope Dallas, there was a language barrier. Most adults spoke very little English. Most kids attending the program and encountered in community outreach were bilingual. The average age of kids attending the program was around the age of 7. Most communication was done with body language.
My official job title on this mission trip was engagement coordinator. During the mission trip, I worked at a sports camp during the first half of the day and did community engagement/working in a soup kitchen for the second half of the day.
Some of the tasks I preformed were: