Curriculum Vitae

Professional Experience

I have a wide range of skills developed through unique and diverse roles within the broader field of education. Read below for more details about my academic and professional career. Note: I was recently selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar, which will begin Spring 2025.

Lecturer

April 2017 - Present

As a lecturer, I currently work at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego. I have also worked at various other campuses, including San Diego Miramar College, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego City College, Cuyamaca College, and California State University, San Marcos. I consistently receive high marks from student evaluations, ranging between 3.7-4.0 on a 4-point scale (at community colleges) and 4.3-5.0 on a 5-point scale (at the 4-year university level.)

The courses I have taught as a lecturer include:

Sociology 101 (San Diego Miramar, Mesa, and City Colleges): Introduction Sociology (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 110 (San Diego Miramar, Mesa, and City Colleges): Contemporary Social Problems (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 110 (University of California, San Diego): Qualitative Research Methods in Education (undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 125 (San Diego Miramar, Mesa, and City Colleges): Sociology of the Family (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 130E (University of California, San Diego): Sociology of Higher Education
Sociology 132 (University of California, San Diego): Gender and Work (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 162 (University of California, San Diego): Sociology of Popular Culture
Sociology 201 (CSU San Marcos; San Diego State University): Introductory Statistics for Social Sciences (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 220 (San Diego Miramar College): Sociological Research Methods (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 301 (San Diego State University): Social Research Methods
Sociology 311 (CSU San Marcos): Inequalities (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 361 (CSU San Marcos): Qualitative Methods in Sociology (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 413 (CSU San Marcos): Sociology of Education (Undergraduate coursework)
Sociology 480 (San Diego State University): Field Internship Supervision, designing the course emphasizing visual research methods
Child and Family Development 370 (San Diego State University): Research, Assessment, and Evaluation in Children and Families (Graduate Coursework)
Education 690 (San Diego State University): Methods of Inquiry (Graduate Coursework)

Doctoral Graduate Assistant

August 2022 - January 2023

In this role, I am responsible for crafting literature reviews for Dr. Marva Cappello, organizing department workshops and seminars, and communicating with other doctoral students. I have created and conducted workshops for graduate students, namely Planning and Submitting to IRB for Educational Research and Writing a Successful Application for the Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP). Lastly, in this position I have also worked closely and 1:1 with other graduate students on their research designs and theoretical frameworks.

Co-Founder and Executive DIrector

October 2016 - Present

I am the co-founder and executive director of The Dignified Learning Project. In 2015, I began an independent study course with Dr. Jung Choi, researching San Diego educational equity. After the independent study concluded, I single-handedly researched and filed paperwork to create the organization and established nonprofit status. The Dignified Learning Project became an official nonprofit in October 2016. As an organization, we guide students to apply for and transition into post-secondary plans, including community college, vocational schools, 4-year colleges and universities, and graduate school. To date, 100% of our students who have worked with us have been accepted into a college to which they applied, and have received over $350,000 in funding, including several full-ride tuitions.

We have also launched our Community-Engaged Research Institute, which focuses on youth participatory action research for teachers and students, as well as training and engagement with community-based research methods for other organizations. Currently, we are conducting research on curriculum planning and creation collaboratively with students whom we see as our research partners.

Humanities Teacher

June 2019 - November 2021

I worked at different locations during this time as a humanities teacher. In this role, I taught history, English, and design thinking. I taught grades 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. In this role, I was tasked with creating a literacy intervention program for 9th-grade ELA students, lead data collection for our WASC accreditation as it related to curriculum, and was the sophomore class sponsor. In addition, I created an outline to meet the areas for improvement according to the WASC findings, which was incorporated for the accreditation plan. I wrote a grant collaboratively with a student, which we were awarded, to start a Food Justice Club at the school, where we held workshops, organized students, and gave pantry items to students in need. In addition, I revamped the curriculum across different schools to meet the needs of students, incorporating systems-level thinking into the students' assignments. Lastly, I increased literacy rates, shown through i-Ready and CAASPP scores across both middle and high school students.

HSI Title V Program Activity Director and Liaison

January 2018 - January 2019

As the program and activity director and liaison for San Diego Mesa College's Title V funding, I was responsible for overseeing programs and activities that were funded through Title V for being a designated HSI, or, Hispanic-Serving Institute. I worked with various departments across campus, including the Social and Behavioral Sciences, STEM fields, and programming for emerging multilingual students. I also was tasked with specifically working with the Social and Behavioral Sciences to bridge communication between the administration and the departments in order to build camaraderie and support student success, especially as it related to grades Ds, Fs, and Ws. This role was a grand-funded role that ended as it met the reporting needs and grant expectations.

Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant

May 2015 - May 2018

I held several graduate research assistant positions at San Diego State University, specifically in the departments of teacher education and sociology. In sociology, I graded papers and designed course curricula for gender and sexuality seminars. I also collected data and coded it around representation in the highest-grossing films. I organized the data into Excel for further analysis, contributing to the PI's publication.

I also worked closely in the teacher education department supporting applied research on multicultural education in the San Diego Unified School District. In this role, we coded data for a large-scale survey on racial representation and demographics of student participants and multicultural education. In addition, I designed a practicum class that collected observational data from middle school student classes and applied it to research. Lastly, I searched for and applied for grants to support multicultural education efforts.

One last role I held here was working as the teaching assistant for an undergraduate, pre-service teacher multicultural education role. Supporting an online class, I was responsible for responding to discussion board posts, grading student work, ensuring rigorous and respectful interactions took place between students, and guiding course discussions. Lastly, I also helped with module and lesson design and planning.

Doctor of Philosophy, Education

May 2023; San Diego State University joint with Claremont Graduate University

My dissertation, entitled, Disruption, Dissent, and Dialogue: YPAR as an Institutional and Pedagogical Tool. My dissertation received highly positive remarks for being innovative and creative, and was encouraged to write an article on my process, which I am currently doing. My research focused on merging together sociological concepts and youth participatory action research (YPAR) as it relates to secondary social studies teaching. I conducted research with high school graduates of 2022, where we used and demonstrated a sociological imagination through the design of lesson plans that met the 12th-grade California State Social Studies Standards. This study contributes to the fields of sociology, as studies conducted have been primarily in postsecondary, as well as teaching, as this provides deep insight into my methodological and teaching practice, and YPAR, as YPAR has highlighted deep, critical thinking skills, yet is still a relatively new field (compared to educational reform or transformation or sociology overall.) I successfully defended my dissertation March 2023. My committee includes: Dr. Marva Cappello, chair, and Dr. Jung Choi, from San Diego State University and Dr. Emilie Reagan, chair, and Dr. Gwen Garrison, from Claremont Graduate University.

You can find my dissertation here: Disruption, Dissent, and Dialogue: YPAR as an Institutional and Pedagogical Tool

Master of Arts, Sociology

December 2016; San Diego State University

I completed my MA in Sociology from San Diego State University in December 2016. My master's project focused on the development and implementation of community-based research methodologies, specifically applying public sociology concepts to the nonprofit field as it relates to educational equity. This stemmed from the creation of the nonprofit, The Dignified Learning Project. In addition, during my time in this program, I did thorough research on gender and sexuality studies related to education, merging together interests around arts education and curricula.

Professional Certificate

October 2013; San Diego State University

I completed coursework to receive a professional certificate in grant writing. In this course, we learned how to identify appropriate grants, create budgets, and submit grant applications. I also learned appropriate grant administration and grant reporting.

Bachelor of Arts, History

June 2012; University of California, Los Angeles

My undergraduate coursework focused on the history of Christianity and cultural history. These courses examined interpretation and relationships between Christian values and biblical understanding as they relate to equity, as well as art history coursework around cultural trends. A capstone project I wrote examined generational change around Jewish immigrants in the United States through the use of historical fiction and events.

The Wanderlust Threader