About Me...
Personal Mission, Vision, & Values
20 or so years ago, a precious mentor recommended I write a mission statement for life.
Breathe life into your dreams and dreams into your life.
This has been the foundation of everything I have done since that point. Whether writing blogs or modifying curriculum, if it doesn’t bring life and dreaming back into your heart, mind, soul, body… It’s not for me.
Vision: a friend told me that a vision is how you get to your mission. Like if the mission is the destination, the Vision is your roadmap. My vision became:
I create a sacred, safe space for people to process and prepare for their next big “step” in life, while coming alongside them in support and compassion.
Compassion is so much more than just showing sympathy. The roots of the word – com/pasere – means “to suffer alongside.” I don’t want more suffering in my life, but I do care deeply about showing up in the dark places and bringing hope and light back into them. Friends call it my “stellar magic” – like the stars in the sky.
My values are relatively simple.
I believe humans are inherently “very good”
but that trauma, adverse experiences, and poor choices can reshape that inherent goodness and corrupt it.
I believe that “All shall be well, all shall be well, and every manner of things shall be well.” It all works out in the end, so if it hasn’t worked out yet? It’s not the end.
I believe that representation, authenticity, sincerity, and a proper sense of belonging are critical.
I believe in clear (sometimes overly so) communication.
I believe that one person can nudge a person into a different trajectory.
Some well-known facts:
I have 2 dogs and 2 cats.
I am married with a 10 year old kiddo.
I love reading and average 2-3 novels a week. Please don’t ask me what, because I never remember.
I am Autistic and have ADHD. This creates challenges with Executive Functioning and distraction, but also gives me a superpower that allows me to see patterns where none seem to exist, and to creatively problem-solve using bottom up thinking and divergent/lateral strategies. I have forgotten more data points than most people have ever stored.
I practice non-violent communication and conscious/positive discipling. I believe that Discipline cannnot authentically involve punishment, but discipling must involve modeling and facilitating.
Some lesser known facts:
I was an international expert in the evangelical apocalypse for a few years.
I got into an academic “comment” (read: footnote) war with theologians behind Left Behind.
I love the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
My favorite movie is The Princess Bride.
My favorite live shows included: U2, Civil Wars, Michael Buble, and Sarah McLachlan.
Education
I am a lifelong learner, currently on my 3rd Masters Degree. Is that too much, you might ask? Well… for my autistic and neurodivergent brain, I’m always cataloguing more and more data for better pattern analysis.
My experience in elementary and secondary school was a bit peculiar. I taught myself to read at age 2 because my brother was learning and I wanted to be able to read to myself. By the time I reached elementary school, I was reading at a 6th grade level, but my math and other skills were significantly behind.
I started out in Los Angeles public schools during the initiation of bussing in LAUSD. It created not only a cultural and white supremacist nightmare for the students, but also anyone who didn’t fit into a “typical” mold. I struggled a great deal. I was very privileged to have a family that valued and supported me in education, as well as an uncle who helped write checks to get me into tutoring and private schools. Once I entered an environment of individualized learning and smaller class sizes, I began to thrive.
In high school, I was on the outskirts of things, working from an early age and doing ridiculous amounts of community service. Like imagine someone doing far more community service in one year than expected – now double that. I had over 1000 cumulative hours of community service by the time I entered my senior year. I was accepted to UC Berkeley, surprising most of my teachers and peers. I was not a 4.0 student. I was above average, but also passionate and committed. I have a hunch my essay and my teacher recommendations sealed the deal for me.
Lo and behold, without any practical strategies for #Adulting in place, I dropped out of UCB within 6 months. After wandering for a bit, I came back to community college in my 20s. I loved taking classes in any and every possible subject. I eventually transferred to Westmont in 2002 and completed my bachelor’s degree there, with an emphasis in ethics, aesthetics, and political theory.
While I initially planned to go to Ireland directly after my BA, instead I began a Masters in Theology at Seminary. My focus was always interfaith dialogue and reconciliation practices. In 2007, my husband and I left Southern California for the beautiful Emerald Isle of Ireland, where I completed a Masters of Philosophy in Ecumenics, and ABD for a PhD in Theology.
I am currently finishing up a Masters of Education at CityU in Seattle, through their Alternate Routes to Certification program. I work in Shoreline School District as a 1:1 paraeducator, and love the continued work I do with students.
2004 – BA, Philosophy
Westmont College (Santa Barbara, CA)
2008 – M.Phil, Ecumenics
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
2008 – MA Theology
Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA)
2008-2010 – Postgraduate Research towards PhD in Theology (emphasis Hermeneutics – how we read texts)
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Liverpool Hope University, UK
2025 (expected graduation date) – M.Ed. CityU, Seattle (Social Studies/SPED)