What's your title, and what do you do on your job? And how many years have you been at FLC?
I work as a family nurse practitioner in the Student Health Center, and just love my job! I see students for primary and preventive health care issues. I have been working here for 11 years.
What do you like best about working at FLC, and why?
There are many reasons I love working at the College. First, I love working with the students as they transition from adolescence into adulthood. There are many health decisions involved in being academically successful while navigating life on one's own for the first time. I love seeing the light turn on inside their heads as they understand how to care for their health while managing school, social lives, and work. I am also inspired by them, often taking note of what they are reading in class or hearing about their projects.
I love the community of Fort Lewis. There are many ways to become involved in bringing Fort Lewis College to the community of Durango and the world. I have traveled with Engineers Without Borders to Laos to provide health education to communities just receiving running tap water installed by the engineering students. I have served as an interim adviser for the East Africa Service Project. We installed a composting pit latrine on an island in Lake Victoria, and then worked in a HIV/AIDS health center in Uganda. These are both student-led initiatives, and I am always so awed by their commitment to help people.
I love that I walk to work most every day I am scheduled to be here. My personal record is -12 degrees Fahrenheit. I walk a little over two miles round trip with an elevation change of 500 feet. I am invigorated on my way up to work, and am able to be reflective of my day and student insights on my way down the trail home.
Where are you from, and how did you get from there to here?
In many ways, I have grown up at Fort Lewis College. I went to college here from 1991-1995, and received a degree in Anthropology. I left to travel the world, work in Washington, D.C., and came back to Durango to get grounded. I co-taught one of FLC’s first online classes in 1999 on population policy, which helped inspire me to obtain my nursing degree. I started working at the Student Health Center in 2004 as a registered nurse. In 2011, I went back to school and became a family nurse practitioner, and have been working in that capacity for a year.
What's your favorite thing to do outside of work, and why do you love it?
I seasonally enjoy the many activities that Durango has to offer. Fortunately, I can mountain bike most months of the year, and this is my true passion. When there is snow, I backcountry ski with my husband and dog. I am an avid gardener, and as old Durango lore advises, I start digging and planting once the snow melts off of Smelter Mountain. During the winter break, I take a surf trip down south, and spring break usually lands me in the Utah desert.
What's an interesting thing about you that most people don't know?
I have written and illustrated three children’s books. They remain unpublished, but my own handmade copies have been given to my family members, three sets of godchildren, and a few friends.
Please share one bit of advice or a favorite quote you can offer about ... anything.
My advice: Stay curious! Curiosity lends itself to adventure and intellectual pursuits, keeps us young, and makes life fun.