- Forever Buckeye -

In 2013, I graduated from The Ohio State University with two Bachelors degrees: a BA in English with Research Distinction from the College of Arts and Sciences and a BA in Journalism from the School of Communication. I spent my four years at Ohio State as a member of the Advocates for Children and Education Scholars (ACES) group, where I had opportunities to learn and grow with other like-minded students, and also go out into the community and volunteer.

 

I spent time at Indianola Middle School where I helped students with reading comprehension and writing, while explaining that "football" is not a college major. I also was an E-Mentor through the Nisonger Center  and was named "Mentor of the Year." As a result, I got to attend a dinner at the Ohio State House and at another event I had lunch with Mrs. Alma Powell and discussed her work on the America's Alliance Project and our education system. Perhaps the most rewarding experience I had at OSU was the opportunity to facilitate a Next Chapter Book Club group. This group met once each week at the local Barnes and Noble where I got to feed my caffeine addiction at Starbucks while also reading with, and getting to know, an amazing group of individuals. NCBC focuses on reading groups for individuals on the Autism spectrum. I think I learned more from that group of people than they ever could have learned from me. 

 

I have to attribute the majority of my confidence in public speaking to my time on the OSU Mock Trial team. When I joined the team, I wanted to fulfill my dream of becoming Elle Woods, but I gained so much more. My first semester on the team we earned a first place trophy at our Scarlet and Gray tournament and by the end of my time on the team the next year, I had worked my up to a team captain for our Regionals season. I had to leave the team to accept a job at the Manley Deas and Kochalski, LLC law firm as a legal assistant, but I am forever grateful to my teammates and coach for pushing me to better my arguments, stop tapping my foot and playing with my coat sleeves while presenting, and showing me that girls can wear suits too and be just as persuasive as a man in a courtroom. 

 

Before I close the chapter on Ohio State, I have to tell you about my time at The Lantern. After I nervously walked into my first journalism class, I instantly felt comfortable and at home. For our first assignment, I said I wanted to do my piece on the the Mark Twain novel, Huckleberry Finn. At the time, a publisher in the South (New South, Inc.) was changing choice words in the novel to make the story less offensive to new readers. I was told that I couldn't do this, that I wouldn't be able to contact the right people. With a lot of perseverance and a little luck on my side, I ended up talking to the Editor in Chief of the company. He called me back at midnight on a Friday night, and we discussed the article. The next day, I ran to my teacher, and advisor, and told him what happened. That story ended up running on the front page of the Lantern. As a result, I moved quickly up the ranks and soon found myself in the position of Oller Reporter. It was my job to cover investigative journalism pieces for the paper. As a member of the editorial team, I learned how to take criticism, stand up for my work, and do a lot of phone calls and emails to make tight deadlines. I am also now a pro at talking to strangers (sorry, mom), and those of higher stature than myself. 

- The Big City -

When I left OSU, I knew I wanted to pursue publishing as a career, so I applied and attended the New York University Summer Publishing Institute. Here, I was able to garner life lessons and skills from the top editors, illustrators, designers, and writers in the business. For 6 weeks, we worked in groups over 10 hour days. For the first 3 weeks my group designed, edited, and pitched the idea for a new magazine called Genuwine: Wine Without the Snobbery. For this project, I was the art director and had to be humbled on several occasions when trying to learn how to traverse the mysteries of InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. For the second 3 weeks, my group pitched a new book imprint called New Pioneer. Our imprint targeting young adults who wanted to learn about the world in a new and interesting way. I left New York City with a passion for the quick pace, the cutting edge business models, and of course, the bagels and schmear. Sometimes, I even find myself missing the rush of the subway cars as they pass by and the incessant car horn honking throughout the night. 

- Graduate School  -

In 2013, I began my Masters in English Literature at The University of Akron (Go Zips) right after returning from the Big Apple. While in school, I was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Composition 1 and 2.  Though my title said, "assistant" I was actually an independent instructor. I built my syllabus, chose my textbooks, and set my class' deadlines. 

 

Even though I wasn't expecting to full teach a full course independently, I am so thankful for that experience. The connection I made with some of my students was well worth the sleepless nights and extra coffee. 

 

- Serious Fun at The Little Gym -

If you have not yet heard about The Little Gym and all the joys it brings to children and their families stop everything and go check them out. TLG's motto is "Serious Fun" and boy does that ring true. Teams at TLGs across the World work to build confidence in kids 4 months through 12 years through non-competitive gymnastics, dance, and sports skills. I started my adventure with The Little Gym as a part-time instructor in high school. I continued as a part-time instructor in Columbus while at Ohio State and again during my time in Graduate School this time at The Little Gym of Brecksville. During my final semester of Grad School, my boss at The Little Gym offered me a Full-Time Program Director position at another location. I started Full-Time after graduation and am going on 5 years. 

​

As the Program Director, I wear many "hats" during the day. I teach about 15 classes per week to children from 10 months through 12 years of age. But, as a Director I also do much more than that. Each week I plan and run our team meetings for our 16 instructors. I work with our Gym Director to hire awesome people, I create their training plans and work through their training process with them. I run our social media pages, create and run social media ads, and create email newsletters. Of course customer service is important and we strive to treat our customers like family. I talk to customers in person, on the phone, through email, and now text messaging as well. 

​

On even more of the back-end, I created the curriculum that we use for our Preschool Enrichment program, run that program which now has two instructors under me, as well as create fun events for members to attend throughout the year. Each week I am analyzing key business indicator numbers, communicating with our owners, calculating tuition discounts, and organizing fun videos for our team to use as gym advertisements. After being the director for 3 years, our gym hit an all-time enrollment high of 650 students. While I know a lot of my initiatives helped drive this, it would not have been possible without first fostering a sense of team unity and togetherness. We all - from myself down to our newest high school employee - work to create the magic of The Little Gym.

​