I grew up in Lindon like the six generations of my family before me. I went to Lindon Elementary, Oak Canyon Junior High, and Pleasant Grove High School.

I lived on the same street as my extended family. I was only a walk away from my great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and a gaggle of cousins.

My family and the wonderful people of Lindon have shaped me.

I am a first generation college student. I worked my way through college and graduated with a degree in social work from BYU.

After graduating from BYU, I moved to Massachusetts for graduate school. I graduated with a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) from the Smith College School for Social Work. My training focused on providing mental health counseling services.

While I was working Harlem, I began supervising graduate students in their clinical internships. I found that I loved teaching them how to be effective helpers. I re-engaged in research because I viewed it as another way to help individuals and communities.

I returned to school so that I could become a professor. I was accepted into a top school of social work and awarded a fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health to study mental health services.

I graduated with PhD from Washington University in St. Louis.

I am now a faculty member in the School of Social Work at BYU. I am in the office of my retired BYU mentor. I teach students in the BYU MSW program, I conduct research on how we can help individuals and communities thrive, by getting what works to people who need it more rapidly, equitably, and lastingly. I stay close to my practice roots by maintaining a small mental health private practice.

We're back in Lindon. I live 2 minutes away from my childhood home. My girls are now a walk away from their great-grandparents, grandparents and cousins. They are attending the same schools I attended. I feel so grateful that their lives will be shaped by the wonderful people of Lindon just like mine was.