I took a very winding path to my current career. After graduating from Ursinus in 2016 with a history major and teacher certification in social studies, I realized that I was not interested in a traditional education career, but I did want to do youth and community work. I moved to North Carolina, where I secured a full-time position doing youth conflict resolution and community programming at a small nonprofit in Asheville, NC. In my work there, I was responsible for sustaining community partnerships, managing several grants, conducting mediation sessions, and facilitating emotional literacy programming. I loved this work–it scratched my “education itch,” and it was such a pleasure to work with the kids in my community. In my spare time, I worked as a Historic Interpreter at a local historic site.

After some time and thought, I realized that I wanted to go back to school for museum studies. I had two internships while at Ursinus, one at The Mercer Museum and one at Pennsbury Manor. I loved both positions, and the longer I spent in the workforce the more I realized that museum work would be the perfect blend of history, education, and community impact. My master’s program at UNC Greensboro was extraordinarily hands-on; while in school, I worked as an Artifact Preservation Consultant and Collections Consultant for The Holocaust Awareness Museum in Elkins Park, PA, as a Curatorial Team Member on Roots of Resistance (a traveling exhibit designed to teach North Carolina high school students about The Holocaust in Ukraine), and as a Research Assistant at Old Salem Museum & Gardens. I had the privilege of working with some incredible artifacts and unearthing amazing stories in all three positions.

I graduate in May 2022, and I am so excited for the next step in my career. I am interviewing for positions in curation and collections management in New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. We will see where the path takes me next!

I truly cannot count the ways that the Ursinus Education Department prepared me for my career. I credit student teaching for my comfort around teenagers and kids and for my public-speaking abilities; a huge part of my job as a mediator involved educational programming that would have felt completely foreign to me without my education certification. I also felt much more confident on the curatorial team of Roots of Resistance because of my education training. We designed the exhibit for high school students and collaborated very closely with North Carolina teachers. I felt so comfortable working with the students and teachers and confident in my ability to understand their needs. The education program also taught me universally applicable skills like writing, time management, project management, goal setting, and professionalism. I know that I am well prepared for wherever my career takes me next.