About Me
I am originally from Sugar Land, Texas, which is on the southwest corner of the Greater Houston Area. Growing up, I enjoyed running, doing triathlons, and playing guitar and piano. I went to Dulles High School, where I was on the track and cross country teams, in choir, on the Student Council, and a member of the National Honor Society. My junior and senior years, I served as the cross country varsity captain, and I served as the track varsity captain my senior year. I was also in a rock band called Banned Practice, and we often played at school and local events.
I earned my Bachelor's degree at the University of Houston, where I majored in mathematics and minored in Chemistry. I did not always plan to study mathematics; I started out as a chemistry major, but then joined a mathematics outreach program at UH called the Cougar and Houston Area Math Program (CHAMP), where I interacted with math students and professors and realized that being a mathematician was something that I could and wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to get a PhD in math, so in preparation for grad school, I attended a variety of conferences, including the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women, which was a major factor in my decision to attend UNL. At the University of Houston, I was in the Honors College, and for a semester I played on the Honors College Intramural Dodgeball Team. I was a member of the UH Pi Mu Epsilon chapter, for which I served as president for two years, and a member of the Association for Women in Mathematics chapter. As the president of Pi Mu Epsilon, I organized various social and professional development events, including a panel of graduate students on applying to graduate school, a LaTeX workshop, and game nights. In my free time, I enjoyed going to the rec center on campus and exploring the city of Houston with my three amazing roommates Jen, Erica, and Jessy.
During the summer between my last year of undergrad and my first year of graduate school, I attended the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) Summer Program, which is a month long summer program for women who are entering or have just begun a doctoral program in mathematics. The program consisted of four two-week long courses: linear algebra, abstract algebra, real analysis, and measure theory, as well as various talks and mini lecture series from female mathematicians. During the summer at EDGE, I learned so much math and advice that prepared me for graduate school, and I met a ton of inspiring women mathematicians. To be a part of such a supportive and wonderful community of women has been invaluable!
I earned an MS in Mathematics in May 2019, and I am now in my third year of the Ph.D program at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I am interested in operator theory and am advised by David Pitts. In addition to taking my own classes and learning math for my own research, I also have had the opportunity to teach several of my own classes, which has been a valuable learning experience! During the summer of 2019, I married my husband Frank, who is also a graduate student at UNL. We have two wonderful cats, Star and Owen, who entertain us to no end. I have also met many wonderful and supportive friends in the graduate program! If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
