Rise

Lisa Brathwaite, Assistant Dean, Law School

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

IBarbados. My parents wanted me to have access to more opportunities that were available on the island, also my extended family lived in Boston so they wanted me to live here with them.

What path brought you to BC?

I started working in the private sector (large law firms) doing recruiting to
test the legal profession. I realized there was so many things students did not know as they navigated that interview and job search process and I wanted to be able to support them on that journey. I decided to come to the law school setting to help prepare students to take advantage of the jobs they were seeking.

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Supporting students as they work towards their goals and making sure they can thrive in institutions of higher education.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

I am usually at home or spending time with my family and friends. I enjoy being near the water, so I take any chance I get to walk by the water or just go to it and relax.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

I appreciate the opportunity to prepare meals for the unhoused population through my church. (I can’t wait until we get back to it, now the kitchen has been renovated)

Who is your hero? Why?

My grandmother was one of my heroes. I am consistently floored by the way in which she navigated life with few resources, but built a lasting legacy, touching lives beyond her family.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

One of my mentors is one of my former managers. She was a selfless leader who encourages and challenges to continue to soar.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

Ghana- the people are incredible, the food, culture and history, though difficult in many ways, is the tangible evidence of what I learned as a child.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Chai –I love a good cup of hot chai!

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

I want to have a family and I think I want to further my education.

Caitlin Cunningham, Director of Photography, University Communications

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

I was raised close by in Wellesley, went to college, and then moved overseas for a few years to live in New Zealand and then Australia. Once I returned, my parents retired and sold my childhood home. A move to Boston made the most sense for me professionally and personally.

What path brought you to BC?

Through the grace of networking and perfect timing, I met a freelance photographer in 2010 who worked with my current department. She’d just given notice that she was moving away, and gave my name to BC since the office was in need of help. I was a contractor for four years in the Office of Photography, left to pursue freelance full-time 2015-2021, and returned as salaried staff in October 2021. 

What are you most passionate about professionally?

My husband told me recently that I can find personality even in a cardboard box when I’m shooting. I always try to honor the personality of an event or subject and to capture emotion as best I can. My initial photography roles were in administrative positions, so I’m grateful to have the organizational training that helped me build my business and my confidence in the industry. 

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

Admittedly, a lot of my spare time currently has some work overlap these days, because I’m also a graduate student at Woods in the Leadership & Administration track. When I’m able, I love visiting museums and galleries, trying new restaurants with friends, cooking with my husband, taking fast walks, and finding quiet away from crowds. I also love the kind of naps that are too long and require blurry recovery for hours in the winter.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

Working full-time and being in graduate school doesn’t currently leave time for regular volunteering, unfortunately. I used to participate in Read Aloud through BC, reading for elementary school classes in Brighton, and I’d love to get back to that; the kids were a blast.

Who is your hero? Why?

My mom was the first woman I knew who held a full-time job, and she was a Vice President at a local hospital, which was such a rarity to see as a kid in the ‘80s. She taught me about hard work, service for others, and to have a wicked sense of humor. She showed me how to find the women who would think big, be compassionate, hug tightly, cry without shame, and laugh without a filter. I look for that everywhere I go, especially now, when things feel heavy. I don’t look to individuals so much as I look for heroic qualities, regular people doing giant things in a distinctly hard time.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

Sadly, my mentor was my Director of Photography, Lee Pellegrini, who passed away in August this year. He was such a steady, kind, warm, honest, and hard-working individual, utterly unflappable. Lee taught me a great deal about patience, and about shrugging things off to get a job done well.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

My most memorable reaction to a place was on a trip this past June to Scotland. My husband and I visited the Isle of Mull and visited Aros Castle, ruins that were abandoned hundreds of years ago. The castle is now a three-story pile of stone covered in ivy and surrounded by ferns as tall as I am, looking out over the ocean. It  felt like I’d been there before, listening to the birch trees and the waves, and I just bawled while Tim patiently waited. I then blubbered that he has to bury my ashes there, which is probably completely illegal.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Organization, efficiency, and communication are my trifecta. I do this fueled by coffee, burritos, mandatory time alone that our house dubbed, “Introvert Hospital,” and a family that gracefully tolerates my need for sugar, cheese, and quiet.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

My only job is to make my daughter a better person than I am.

Claire Donohue, Associate Dean, Center for Experiential Learning, BC Law

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

Vestal, NY. It never occurred to me to stay home, a decision I find amusing when I reflect back on how beautiful that area of New York is and how low the cost of living is!

What path brought you to BC?

I met my (now husband) in undergrad. He graduated a year before me and headed to NYC for work. I was looking at grad schools, but planning on deferring for a year to give him one more year to work and put his applications in. As a consequence, I looked only in big cities, and as a northeasterner at heart, only on the northeast corridor: DC, NYC, Boston. I like BC because it was small. My undergrad was huge—a city within itself, but in a tiny town. I found myself wanting the opposite, a small community in a large city. BC fit the bill.

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Being of service. I know it’s like we are supposed to say that at BC, but truly I never once thought about any work other than public service anchored work. To be clear, I do not think that is the only path or only way—some small part of me wonders why I didn’t just try to make bank, because money is power, but alas!

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

On soccer fields, basketball courts, or dance competitions cheering my daughters on, riding my horse, running (though less these days than in the past), cooking, walking my ill-behaved dogs, gardening, and honestly sometimes staggering under the weight of the pressures involved in working full time and having a family. And on Sunday mornings in particular you will find me at church. A small very liberal Episcopal parish in East Milton Square.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

Serving as President of my town’s youth soccer league. (Shhh, I never played soccer growing up!)

Who is your hero? Why?

I don’t think I have one. I find most people, even people who impress the pants off of me, to be remarkable and fallible, inspiring and exacerbating. No one is my hero. We’re all just sort of in it, aren’t we? But okay, my grandmother impressed the crap out of me: marrying at 19, miscarrying as many times as she had babies, losing a baby at birth, making sure her four surviving children were educated, and in so doing, sending that next generation to university where she and her husband, my grandfather, had, at that same age, been in the mines of York, UK and the docks of Portsmouth, UK.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

I had had a shifting village of mentors over the years mostly from places I worked.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

Impossible to answer!! I have loved Manie since I was a child. I was disoriented by the landscape of New Mexico the first time I visited my husband’s family there. I feel at home the minute I step off the plane in the U.K.. I had a work trip to Santiago, Chile that was so so cool. I have loved Portugal, Scotland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Ireland…

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And my husband and kids.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Oh jeez. Nothing really. I just want to be a very ordinary, happy person surrounded by good people. But okay, I want to see my kids launch into the amazing women I see in them, but their accomplishments in that regard won’t be my accomplishments. Hmmm…I think I could get my spoken French back if I had time to give it a whirl. I’ll let that be my answer.

Monetta Edwards, Director, Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

Guyana, South America. My family emigrated to the United States in the 80s.

What path brought you to BC?

I spent the first half of my career in the hospitality and corporate planning sphere and, in 2010, decided to make the transition from corporate work to have a more work-life balance, and found that here at Boston College.

What are you most passionate about professionally?

The reason I get out of bed in the morning is the opportunity to be part of our students’ journeys. Having the opportunity to play a role in their lives gives me purpose. I love that I have the ability to seekout incredible speakers who can come to campus to share their inspiring stories with our students and have them see what is possible.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend orSunday afternoon?

Reading or going to see a live show (concert or theater).

What's your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

Brunching with family and friends, weekend getaways, listening to jazzy-type music.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

I am a 30+ year volunteer and supporter of the Special Olympics, and The ALS Association.

Who is your hero? Why?

My maternal grandfather, Curtis Hughes. In Guyana, he made an unpopular decision at the time to pay for the education of his seven daughters. His decision set the trajectory of the strong female self of worth that is ingrained in my family.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

There are several people I consider mentors. I’ve never even met a couple of them, and some are even younger. I think it is important to find people whose values align with yours, who are doing work, and who are doing things that you admire and perhaps aspire to do. I was hired into BC by Yasmin Nunez, the current Associate Dean of Finance and Administration at the Lynch School. She is someone I admire tremendously and has been an incredible advocate and sponsor for me here at BC.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

The Highlands of Scotland brought me a sense of peace and serenity while I was there. Paris is my soul city, I love the smell and energy of the city and never give up an opportunity to visit.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Hands down, ice cream.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Open a bed and breakfast.

Ali Bane Hammond, Director, First Year Experience

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?
I grew up in Manchester, MA. I would love to live there again someday, but right now the rush-hour commute would mean too many hours in the car and away from my 2-year-old son, Harry. I now live in Stoneham, MA, about half way between BC and Manchester, where my parents and many other family members still live.

What path brought you to BC?
For starters, I went to BC. I studied theater and communication and had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation. I ended up moving to New York City and working at NBC during my first few years out of college. During this time, I engaged in what I now recognize as “discernment” and discovered that I wanted to pursue higher education administration. After getting my Master’s in the field, I worked at a few different Boston-area institutions and did a short stint in Washington, DC at the Department of Education before accepting a job in 2014 as the Assistant Director of FYE, an office that had a big impact on me during my own undergraduate days.

What are you most passionate about professionally?
I am passionate about the idea of belonging. This desire to belong to one another is so innate, yet often so hard to come by. I believe the desire to belong plays an important role in the transition to college, for better and for worse. Most of the programs I run in FYE and the research I engage in as a graduate student in the Lynch School concerns, to some extent, belonging.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?
At the beach. In the summers, I’m there as often as possible enjoying the golden hour with family and friends. In the winter, I like to bundle up and go for walks along the shoreline. Being by the ocean has always been very centering for me.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?
I love the Posse Foundation, a city-based organization that recruits and prepares high school students to receive full-tuition leadership scholarships to college. I volunteered with them for years as a writing tutor. I also used to volunteer at Massachusetts General Hospital. My dad had a life-saving surgery there while I was in college, and it felt like a small way to repay the incredible healthcare workers who perform miracles on a daily basis. Over the last few years, I’ve had less time to devote to those organizations, and have instead tried to support candidates for political office that I really believe in.

Who is your hero? Why?
Easy call. My parents are my heroes. Their selflessness has always inspired me to be better. However, since becoming a mom, the magnitude of their sacrifice has hit me in a new way.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?
I have been lucky to have had mentors who have supported me in different seasons of life. From high school teachers, to faculty members, and supervisors at BU and BC. A common thread among these relationships is that I had to take some initiative, usually by requesting a conversation, in which I learned about them or sought advice.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?
The place I have visited that has felt the least familiar to me is Marrakech, Morocco. My husband and I traveled there on the first trip we ever took together, so it holds a special place in my heart. I still have a bag of authentic Ras el hanout (a classic Moroccan spice) that I purchased in the medina. Every now and again I take it out of the cupboard and take whiff and it’s like I’m there!

What would be impossible for you to give up?
My first thought was coffee. My second was ice cream. But I’m going to go with my third, which was dancing. Dancing has been my “thing” since I was a little girl and even throughout my undergrad days at BC. Though I rarely take class any more, I do a lot of dancing in my kitchen—often with my son Harry on my hip.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?
I would love to write a book someday. Maybe a children’s book.

Sarah Hood, Assistant Director Field Education, Social Work

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

I grew up in Newton, MA. I think my mom thinks I'm too old to live with her at this point.

What path brought you to BC?

I attended BC undergrad and then for my Masters in Social Work. I have always loved BC. After 15 years at the same company, I wanted to work with students at BC and I was lucky to get a job.

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Student Formation. Getting to know people individually, hearing about their past, present and dreams for the future.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

Cooking something exotic or new for family and friends.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

I love serving on the United Way and Camp Harborview Advisory Councils. Both organizations are incrediblly different but have a huge positive impact on the community and its members.

Who is your hero? Why?

My hero is my husband Darren. Why? He is incredibly loving and approaches life in the most positive way. He sees the good in people and this allows him to be genuine, generous, optimistic and super fun.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

My mentor was and is my old boss, Paul Cataldo. He was my boss for 15 years at The Mentor Network. He is a brilliant man who leads by example by treating all employees and stakeholders with dignity. He would bring out the best in everyone and wanted anyone who worked for him to do better than he.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

Medjugorje, Yugoslavia.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Laughing.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Travel more!

Heather Jack, Senior Associate Director of Major Giving

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

I grew up in Annapolis, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. I went to college in Middlebury, Vermont. After college my fiancé (now husband) was taking classes at BC Law so we moved to Newton in 1996. We raised two kids in this area. My daughter is a senior now at Middlebury College in Vermont and my son will be a freshman at BC next fall!

What path brought you to BC?

I have been involved in the non profit sector throughout my career. In the early 2000s, I founded two nonprofits, The Volunteer Family and Future Philanthropists, the success of which led to merging with national organizations, and consulted on fundraising and marketing with 20 Boston based larger nonprofits. This led to a full-time job with Advancement at the Rivers School, where I was responsible for many initiatives, including alumni relations, annual fund and fundraising for the school’s campaign. In March of 2020, I transitioned to Boston College, where I began working for University Advancement. I work in the Northern California region as a primary contact for many of our most involved alumni and parents.

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Make the world a better place through helping nonprofits achieve their missions.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

Going for a run outside near the start of the Boston Marathon, spending time with my family, or reading a book on the porch in my backyard.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

I have served on many boards over the course of my career but I think mentoring through RISE might become my new favorite volunteer activity! College aged seniors are some of my favorite people. There is so much potential during this time of life.

Who is your hero? Why?

If I'm being entirely honest, my hero is definitely Taylor Swift!

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

I think a good mentor opens your mind up to different possibilities and points you in a different direction you could go in your life. My best mentor was my old boss at The Rivers School. She hired me, encouraged me to take on a career in Advancement, told me how much I could learn, and taught me how to be good at this job.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

The Great Barrier Reef in Austrailia! I was able to go snorkling there when I was younger.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Exercise, especially running and yoga. Also, quiet, productive working time.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Biking around the world with my husband.

Donicka Pamphile, Staff Psychologist, University Counseling Services

Coming soon

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

What path brought you to BC?

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

Who is your hero? Why?

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

What would be impossible for you to give up?

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Jovonna Jones, Assistant Professor of English and African & African Diaspora Studies

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

I grew up in Randolph, MA, where my family still lives. I love finding new places to plant myself. I’ve lived in Atlanta, Cambridge/Somerville, New York City, Chicago, Hanover (New Hampshire), and now, Dedham, MA—which is, ironically, only a few towns over from where I started.

What path brought you to BC?

I started my job at BC fresh out of graduate school across the river at Harvard, but I first stepped foot on BC’s campus when I was kid. My mom earned her master’s degree at the Lynch School of Education in 2000, when I was 7 years old. Sometimes I had to join her on campus for classes and activities, thumbing through her sociology and psychology textbooks. Years later, I would learn that my maternal grandparents—who had been Southern migrants to Boston during the Great Migration—both found work for a short time as domestic workers in some of the homes in Newton near BC. I didn’t plan on staying in Boston after earning my PhD, but BC felt like a full circle opportunity to contribute to Boston’s academic landscape from a professional and ancestral perspective.

What are you most passionate about professionally?

I am most passionate about mentoring—and I’m not just saying that because of Rise! Mentorship is the tether between my craft as a writer and researcher and my vocation as a teacher. My spirit sings when I can help my students follow their curiosities into fields, projects, and creative pursuits that both challenge and excite them. That’s the sweet spot. Identifying your “work” is not just a matter of what you’re good at or what you like, but what sorts of challenges inspire you to rise to the occasion. Mentors taught me that, and mentors continued to open doors for me so that I could keep moving forward doing the kinds of work I wanted to do. You might change and try out a bunch of different jobs that may or may not align with what you begin to see as your “work,” but your “work” is yours. I am most passionate about helping students figure that out for themselves.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

My weekends are for yoga classes, hiking and taking picture at state parks, catching up with friends at arts/culture/music events in the city, and watching TV with my family.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

I’m on the Oral History Ministry at my church. We’re a small team of ministers and congregants who interview our elders about their life stories, including some of the structural challenges they have faced as Black residents in Boston. I’m a preacher’s kid who has a contentious relationship to organized religion, so it’s been thrilling to find a church that orients their mission towards intersectional justice and intergenerational care.

Who is your hero? Why?

Toni Morrison is my hero. Before becoming a Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author, before writing her first novel at age 39, she was an upstart editor at Random House. Morrison-the-editor is partly responsible for the boom in Black women’s and Black feminist literature that transformed American arts and letters in the 1970s. She was Angela Davis’s editor responsible for the activist’s autobiography. She introduced a myriad of writers who would not have been able to breakthrough to the mainstream without Morrison and a few others uplifting their work behind the scenes. I first read Morrison’s writing as a Speech Team member in 7th grade long before learning just how much herediting had influenced American publishing and criticism. Morrison is my hero because there’s no me—a Black woman who gets paid to write and teach about Black women’s lives, art, and ideas—without her.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

My primary professional life mentor is Dr. Nikki Greene, Professor of Art History at Wellesley College. I met Dr. Nikki during my first year of graduate school. We were both in attendance at a gallery opening, and I happened to bring my tote bag that bore the names of important Black women writers and artists (very on brand, I know). Dr. Nikki spotted my bag and came up to compliment me. She’s been in my corner ever since.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

A photography museum housed in a 16th century prison in Porto, Portugal. The museum included contemporary photography, as well as various models of cameras invented anywhere from 50 to 200+ years ago. But the most interesting thing about the museum were its impressive views from the top floor prison cells. The best views of the city were through the iron bars of vacant rooms where people were forced to be in solitude for whatever crimes they may or may not have committed. The contrast was chilling.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

My personal authority. Where and how I choose to spend my time, feeling free and fluid.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Balancing on one leg for two minutes (right and left).

Akua Sarr, Vice Provost, Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

What path brought you to BC?

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

Who is your hero? Why?

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

What would be impossible for you to give up?

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Laura Steinberg, Executive Director, Schiller Institute

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

I grew up in New York City and New Jersey. I love New York, but Boston is terrific too. As a professor, I choose my locations based on the job opportunity and the quality of life for the things I care about. I generally love urban life, but found that living in a small city in a picturesque part of upstate NY withindriving distance of New York also worked for me.

What path brought you to BC?

I worked as an engineering consultant for several years after college, then I got a PhD from Duke and became a professor. First at Tulane, then SMU, then Syracuse, and now here at BC.

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Doing my job well; making sure students are inspired and engaged with my teaching; satisfying my insatiable curiosity to learn new things and synthesize information into new discoveries.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

So many things: I love to be outdoors in all seasons. This summer I’ve been enjoying biking and paddleboarding. Culturally, I frequent jazz clubs, cinema presentations of Metropolitan Opera productions, and love theater.

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

Haven’t had much time to engage with volunteer activities but on-campus I am the faculty advisor to Engineers Without Border and OSTEM (Out in STEM).

Who is your hero? Why?

Not really a hero type, but I do admire those who take a stand even if it is unpopular. And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to the remarkable Williams sisters – Venus and Serena.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to have mentor. Probably the closest I came was the Dean of Engineering at SMU when I was the department chair there. He was very charismatic and was an excellent
role model for how to lead.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

Just got back from a trip to Prague – it felt like being back in Renaissance times. Also, I love any place where there is an old growth forest.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Reading books.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Learn to really love and appreciate poetry.

Celeste Wells, Professor of Practice, Communications Department

Where did you grow up? Why aren’t you there now?

I grew up in Bountiful & Salt Lake City, Utah. I moved to Boston with my husband and daughter for work, and while I really miss the mountains and desert, I have grown to love the lush environment here in New England

What path brought you to BC?

I was finishing my Ph.D. when we moved to Boston for my husband’s job.  I was very fortunate to get my position at BC after I defended my dissertation in 2010

What are you most passionate about professionally?

Getting to talk to young people about important things in the world, whether those things happened 6,000 years ago or this week, is basically the coolest job ever.  Education is a gift and a privilege, and I feel honored to spend my energy and time educating those who I know will have
the capacity to make a difference in our communities, country, and world.

Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or Sunday afternoon?

It depends on the time of year.  If it is spring, I am messing around in the flower garden or the vegetable/fruit garden (with the dogs dancing around me like pests). If it is summer, I am outside on the porch reading (with the dogs sleeping next to me). If it is fall, my husband and I are wandering around craft fairs (without the dogs because they are terrible in public).  And if it is winter, I am sitting on the couch, complaining about how dark it is outside (with the dogs standing in front of the couch glaring at me because I don’t want to take them outside).

Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?

For the past 21, I have been working with an organization in Utah that pairs me with an elder from the Diné tribe to assist with food, medicine, firewood, and materials needed to weave or sew in their senior years. It has been deeply meaningful to be able to connect with these grandmothers (four incredible women over these years) who have provided me with such generosity and kindness while also allowing me to aid them with some of the resources they need to live stable and healthy lives

Who is your hero? Why?

My mom.  This isn’t to say there aren’t amazing .famous people that are worthy of hero status – but frankly, I have only seen the curated parts of those people.  My mom raised me and my sister in very difficult conditions and showed grace, unending love, compassion, patience and joy Every. Single. Day.  That’s pretty tough to compete with. And if I can do a fraction of what she has done in life, I will be proud.

Who is your mentor? How did you connect with them?

I have had two very since.important mentors.  I met both of them
within a year of each other.  Dr. Karen Ashcraft was one of my undergraduate professors and would become my Master's and Ph.D. chair and advisor, and Dr. Pat Freston, who was the VP of Human Resources at the company I worked for many years, and very sadly died of pancreatic cancer a few months before my daughter was born.  Both of these women held me accountable, encouraged, cheerleaded, and chided me.  Mentors don’t magically appear to us.  They become part of our lives because we see them, and for some reason, we have this spark of realization that this person reflects something we want to see in ourselves.  If we are brave enough, we
reach out to ask them to help us in developing that something.

What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?

I have been lucky to visit many places in the world throughout my life and teach in both Australia and New Zealand.  For this question, I am differentiating between places that were really beautiful and places that were really interesting for their history. I think a place that really sticks out as amazing and wonderful is in Verde Valley, Arizona. 
Here, down a trail, is an amazing collection of petroglyphs by the
Southern Sinagua people that lived between 1100 and 1400 AD. These petroglyphs evidence the development of a calendar, as well as methods of marking equinox, planting schedules, and a bunch of other super cool stuff.  The Montezuma Castle National Monument is in this same area and shows the incredible architecture of the Sinagua people.  Also, quick PSA for our National Parks – this country is full of unbelievably beautiful, captivating, weird, scary and IMPORTANT history – make it a goal to see as many of our parks, historic monuments and sites, preserves, and seashores, you won’t regret it!

What would be impossible for you to give up?

I would never give up my children or my daily medication, but I feel like these answers sorta miss the vibe of the prompt.  So, I am
answering a slightly different question, “What is a stupid thing that you would never want to give up (but know you could If you had to)” and that thing is white bread.  I love, love, love cheap white bread.  I also love sourdough bread. I also love brown bread from Cheesecake Factory.  So basically, I love all the breads.

What’s one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

I know we can die any day at any time, and so I try not to worry too hard about end-state goals, but instead focus on if I died today, would those I love KNOW, with every fiber of their being, that I loved them, was proud of them, and that I knew that they loved me. When we lose people we love, these are the things that we fixate on, so they are the things I try to focus on daily. Accomplishing this means paying attention to not just how I act on my good days, but when I am tired, grumpy, and miserable, the people around me still never question my love and adoration of them.  They just know
I’m grumpy because I don’t have access to white bread.