I started undergrad at Oakland University as a major in Biochemistry with an interest in working in pharmaceuticals. During my first year, I began to study Japanese and deciding to major in it, I transferred to Eastern Michigan University. During my time at Eastern, I was required to take a class in Linguistics for my Japanese degree. Turns out I really enjoyed it and decided to add it as a major. In 2005, I received an internship to work as a guide at the US Pavilion in Aichi, Japan for the World's Expo. It was a great time and after the Expo was over, I spent two semesters studying Japanese at JCMU in Hikone, Japan. After graduating with my BA's in English Linguistics and Japanese Language and Culture in 2007, I worked in Tokyo as an English teacher for one year. I would definitely recommend this for anyone interested. It was as enriching as it was fun. My favorite part was the kids - they can really surprise you sometimes.

Currently, I am a graduate student of Linguistics at EMU and I'm also working to earn a graduate certificate in Language Technology. My dream is to graduate and continue on to a PhD program in Cognitive Science, perhaps focusing on Language Possessing and Perception.

I'm a big sports fan (go Tigers, Lions, Wings, and Pistons), but my favorite sport is baseball. I also enjoy reading novels and Japanese comics; my favorite authors include Hitchens, Orwell, Dawkins, Vonnegut, Azuma, Kumeta and Carroll. I don't watch very much TV, but when I do watch I like "The Office", "Reno 911" and the BBC's "QI". My favorite bands are Modest Mouse, Art School, Bright Eyes, Lamb of God, Ben Folds, World's End Girlfriend, The White Stripes and Boysetsfire.