Before moving to Chicago from a small town in Texas (right at the southern tip), I worked as an Instructional Designer for almost eight years at a local community college. That role allowed me to collaborate with faculty members in the development of online courses for various programs, thus expanding the educational opportunities to students of all types throughout the region. I am currently a Senior Learning Designer at Northwestern University, where I develop online courses for the School of Professional Studies.
Prior to the journey that is online learning, I was a Special Education Teacher for five years, where I taught high-school students with learning disabilities in the subjects of Math, Computers, and English. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas at Austin, and then went on to earn a Master’s degree in Computer Education and Cognitive Systems from the University of North Texas. That program is where I got my first taste of distance learning, and from then on I was hooked.
One of my passions outside of education is writing, which is why I also decided to complete an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas Pan-American (now the University of Texas – RGV).