My Magnificent Chaos

A Bay Area transplant, I grew up dancing along the coast of Connecticut. As a kid, I fell in love with trying to understand the human experience, which led me to pursue a career in counseling while staying up late writing stories about the human condition. My clinical career focused on eating disorder recovery and helping individuals reclaim sexual and bodily autonomy after sexual harm.

Today, I serve as a middle school wellness leader, where I spend my days helping young people navigate identity, relationships, belonging, and the magnificent chaos of growing up. In the process, I've come to believe that middle schoolers are some of our most reliable guides to authenticity. These days, much of my work centers on helping students, families, and educators build communities where people can participate authentically, navigate difference, and feel a genuine sense of belonging.

I am currently pursuing a doctorate in Cognitive Diversity and Educational Leadership, where my research explores how communities distribute the work of interpretation, belonging, and meaning-making. At its heart, my work asks a simple question: Who is responsible for making sense of the invisible rules that shape our communities? Increasingly, I find myself drawn to questions about ambiguity, invisible rules, and how communities create, or constrain, the conditions for authentic participation.

Outside of work, you'll often find me with a book in hand, a notebook nearby, and a question I can't quite stop thinking about. I write poetry, collect ideas, and remain convinced that wonder deserves a larger role in adulthood. I'm usually somewhere near the water, wandering a bookstore, dancing in my kitchen to Fleetwood Mac, searching for the perfect dessert, or sitting in the sunshine.

This is why Gather & Become exists. It was born from my belief that none of us have it all figured out. We are all gathering stories, experiences, questions, and relationships as we move through life. We are all endlessly becoming.