Could you tell us a little bit about your educational background?

I received my bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Penn State, where I also minored in French. During the pandemic, I enrolled in online courses with the University of New England to fulfill all of the science prerequisites necessary to apply to genetic counseling graduate school programs.

What first got you interested in the healthcare field as a career choice? There are a lot of career options in the field -nursing, physician assistant, etc., what made you decide that genetic counseling was the right practice area/career choice for you?

After graduating from college, I worked in sales for about four years. Although I found success in sales, I always regretted not working in a healthcare profession and felt unfulfilled. With the pandemic putting a stop to normal life in 2020, I did a lot of self-reflection and realized I wanted to transition into healthcare, so that I could make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients and their families. While choosing to go back to school for genetic counseling may seem random, I have had exposure to the profession for several years through my best friend and roommate who is a practicing genetic counselor. Through our daily conversations about genetics over the years and getting to experience the world of genetic counseling from a unique perspective during quarantine, I became passionate about genetics and realized that genetic counseling was the career for me. As an outgoing person who loves to talk to people, genetic counseling provides the perfect blend of face-to-face communication with patients, while fulfilling my desire to truly help people on a much greater scale.

What type of obstacles have you had to overcome on the road to getting your education and in particular in pursuing your Genetic Counseling degree?

During the pandemic, I had to fulfill all of the science prerequisites for genetic counseling programs online via self-taught learning and pre-recorded lecture videos. This was pretty challenging as I had not taken any science classes for several years and had to successfully complete many classes in a short amount of time for the upcoming application cycle.

What are you most looking forward to about beginning your Genetic Counseling studies?

I am excited to gain hands-on experience in the field and am really looking forward to observing different specialties and working with patients.

What is one fun and interesting fact about you?

I was a competitive gymnast for 14 years and competed in the National Junior Olympics twice.