I graduated Eckerd College in 2021 with a BA in Economics & Psychology. After being inspired by my experience at Eckerd College, specifically in the economics department, I decided to go straight from undergrad to graduate school where I pursued her Master's of Arts in Economics at Claremont Graduate University.  Throughout my time at Eckerd College and Claremont Graduate University, I gained professional experience working as an intern for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, as well as an intern at a market research agency. With this experience, I decided after grad school to delve into market research and strategy work. I now work at Octagon, a global agency in sports, entertainment and culture on their strategy team. She works with some of the world's top brands, Mastercard, Geico, and Kaiser Permanente, to help them figure out the best sports teams or leagues to partner with and delivers top tier marketing strategies driven by data analysis.  I want to be a mentor because I want to give back to a community who has done so much for me. I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of the job hunt and want to share my tips and tricks to help students figure out their potential paths and goals as they prepare for life after Eckerd. 

I want to be a Career Mentor so I am able to “pay it forward” by sharing my work/life experiences with Eckerd students.  When I was in college, I had a professor who had been in my future career field in her past life.  She took me on as a mentee and I was able to gain valuable insights from her about my future career.  This is a valuable program and I am excited to be a part of in the fall.

My interest in becoming an EC mentor revolves around two basic notions; 1) I'm recently retired, have some new-found free time in my life and would like to put it to good use, and 2) I clearly remember going through college without having somebody to chat with about the "real world" once I graduated and all of the anxiety that came with that.  If I can help give any student some perspective, help formulate a plan, and eliminate some of that anxiety, I will consider it time well spent.

Eckerd College provided a wonderful experience for me as a student/athlete and taught me the value of quality mentorship, through faculty members helping me make important decisions academically and focusing me on personal growth.

Post graduation I was fortunate to have 3 professional relationships in the insurance industry while I was still figuring out my career path, that helped guide me to make decisions that shaped my life (not just my professional career) forever. Those professional relationships (who were my mentors) set me on a professional path that facilitated personal growth and financial independence. They acted as my mentors for the next stage of my life & 35 years later, I’m still close with two of them. 

Mentors can influence decisions that change the direction of your life both personally and professionally. I’m interested in helping students think through the decisions that will shape their future post-Eckerd College, and potentially be a positive influence.  

I loved my time at Eckerd and I know that I am where I am today because of the education I received while I was there. I am excited to work with the current classes of students at Eckerd and give back to the community that means so much to me and help the new generation flourish after graduation, especially in the field of science. 

Eckerd truly is a college that changes lives, as it did for mine. I still draw on the life lessons learned there along with the academic lessons in my successful professional career as a Federal scientist and natural resource manager. As a way to give back, I'm excited to share some practical lessons and advice with Eckerd students with similar professional goals to help them figure out how best to achieve them.