Originally, I am from Michigan, and I finished high school in Minnesota in 1997 and joined the Marines. After a tour in Iraq in 2005, I left the Marines in order to finish an English/teaching degree at Iowa State University. I came to Alaska in 2010. I taught in small villages for more than 5 years before transitioning into administration in 2016. 

I first taught in Point Hope for over two years as the secondary English teacher. I then moved to the Lake and Peninsula School District and was a secondary generalist in Port Heiden and Chignick Bay School for two years. In 2016 I moved into administration and was the Itinerant Principal for Nondalton, Pilot Point, Igiuguik, and Kokhanok Schools until I moved to Thailand.