Personal Statement 

My mission is to empower and cultivate a worldwide community on the pursuit of health and happiness through love, personal evolution, and holistic nutrition provided by the earth and its diverse inhabitants. 

To best describe how I got here, I would like to take you on a journey. This journey started when I was at Colorado State University during my undergraduate career. It was December of 2013, and I had just received my grade for my Introduction to Nutrition Course; I received a final grade of a D. As I turned on my space heater in my chilly dorm room, I began to cry. I was frustrated with my performance; I had the utmost certainty in my abilities before this moment, and this final course score contradicted those beliefs. The disappointment reflected this frustration in my score with how I viewed myself. On the inside, I was treading water emotionally; I was homesick and longing for connection. On the outside, I gained weight, lost hair, and developed acne. I was eating and drinking in excess; this feeling perpetuated through my undergraduate career. 

The winter semester of my senior year rolled around, and by this time, I became so unhappy with myself I knew there was something I had to change. I started to change my mindset to fuel my body and be a conscious consumer. I became mindful of how my foods, relationships, and media served me and adjusted them to form a better relationship with myself. 

I learned so much from mindfulness surrounding food and its interaction with my body. Taking the time to sit back and look at me as a whole person, gut, mind, and body, I understood myself better. Meditation, exercise, and a whole foods approach to eating changed my mind and body in ways I did not know were possible. I grew increasingly interested in working with foods grown in the soil I walked on, bread rising from the yeast in the same air I breathed, all sourced by my own two hands and people in my community. I found that a connection to my food leads to a more meaningful relationship with myself and my community. 

I graduated from Colorado State University with my Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. I received certificates in International Business and Marketing, Branding, and Communications. I was pushed to pursue this degree from my curiosity of the unknown, a consistent theme throughout my life. I wanted to learn how to run a business successfully and be a conscious consumer so as not to be fooled by marketing propaganda. I learned so much about myself and how to best position myself as a brand. I learned to act locally and think globally; I have carried this on with me along my journey. 

The next phase of my journey was back home to San Luis Obispo, where I could feel the space to learn and grow into myself; metaphorically and physically, rolling hills were ready to be climbed. I moved into my full-time career in anatomical and dermatopathology. I grew increasingly fascinated by the microscopic intrinsics playing a beautiful symphony throughout our bodies at any given time. I would spend hours outside of work researching different malignancies and how they presented pathologically.  

I have seen tumors of all sizes, some bigger than my head, amputated limbs, and necrotic tissue. The most common thing that accompanied these specimens were the patient's history and physicals with laundry lists of chronic illnesses and medications. Most of these patients were not treating their bodies well; most drank and smoked heavily and were overweight. I became exhausted and overwhelmed by the reactivity to health underlying pathology. I want to be proactive in the patient's health so they won't need to get their leg amputated or their colon removed; subsequently, the step of pathology would become obsolete in that patient's medical path.  

In every aspect of my life, I strive to be proactive instead of reactive. I want to develop my scope and skills to teach and empower others to be proactive in their health. 

Evolution is a guarantee. I consider myself a lifelong learner, always seeking the truth, different perspectives, and deeper understanding. I find comfort in the fact that I don't know everything. Nutrition is an ever-evolving field, and with advances in technology, we continue to develop a deeper understanding of the human body and our foods.

I moved into the next phase of my journey, my graduate career at the National University of Natural Medicine. I have gained much value from the abundance of knowledge and curiosity omnipresent in my graduate career. My passion for my education is present in my excellent GPA, connections to my classmates and faculty, and commitment to Student Government.

Covid has impacted us all in many ways; I like to highlight the positives while still acknowledging those suffering. I anticipated starting my career at the National University of Natural Medicine from a classroom full of new faces in Portland; Covid had other plans. Instead, I started my graduate career from the warmth of my parent’s home in front of a Zoom screen. I was fortunate enough to move away from my career as Director of Compliance and Public Relations for Western Pathology Incorporated and into a space to explore my education deeply.

In this space, I have metaphorically and physically climbed many mountains. The most notable is climbing Mount Bierstadt in Colorado. This mountain sits just over 14,000 feet above sea level. To summit, I had to train for weeks ahead of time. I drove from California to Colorado, hiking any mountain I could find from Zion to Vail. I hiked some of the most beautiful peaks, stopping for a week in Denver to adjust for altitude. The morning of the hike, I woke up at 3 am to be at the mountain’s base; we needed to be up and off the mountain early to avoid the summer lightning storms. I was thrilled to get the chance to conquer this new mountain, and when I got to the top, that feeling quadrupled. I have never been more proud of myself in my entire life. 

When I was in my undergraduate career, I would tell myself and my friends that I could never hike to the top; I was deeply insecure in my strength and resiliency. Summiting to the top of that mountain silenced those deeply rooted feelings of insecurity and resiliency. I learned that I am powerful, and my positive habits can physically and metaphorically move me over mountains. I was overwhelmed with gratitude coming down that mountain; pushing through challenges while taking time to notice the new blooms has encouraged me to climb more enormous mountains than I had ever thought possible. 

In my career, I plan to help others climb their mountains. I will become a professor to teach students how to pursue health and happiness through love, personal evolution, and holistic nutrition provided by the earth and its diverse inhabitants. I want the chance to teach frustrated students looking for connections with others and their bodies. I believe my ability to empower and inspire moves outside of the classroom; I am interested in nutrition from a public and global health perspective; empowering our international community through education and research is a mountain I plan on climbing. 

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I feel overwhelmed with gratitude looking at where I have come and now. I am excited to continue my mission is to empower and cultivate a worldwide community on the pursuit of health and happiness through love, personal evolution, and holistic nutrition provided by the earth and its diverse inhabitants.