I spent my first two years at Miami's Middletown campus; then, I earned a scholarship that allowed me to transfer to the Oxford campus.

My experience at Miami Middletown was a good one. There are a lot of nontraditional students there, and I liked being with older students. I also found it easy to get involved. I was part of the student government. I started a club for theater students called The Bunny Hollow Players, and I was the school mascot at sporting events.

Then last year, I came to Oxford and got involved in the theater department's production of Urinetown. I helped out with publicity and played the narrator, Officer Lockstock, a police officer who hauls away people for peeing in the streets if they don't pay to pee. My role earned a nomination to compete for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship at the American College Theater Festival this year.

Urinetown was a huge production. I was really proud of what the department was able to accomplish. It was well-cast, visually appealing, and just a lot of fun. What I love about theater is that you get involved in these big collaborative projects. I also like that it allows people to express themselves in a variety of ways, and it's a way to reach out to the public and address issues and communicate.

My goal is to be a high school drama teacher. To get there, I'm majoring in English Language Arts Education with a minor in theater. Both my education and theater professors here have been very supportive. I have lunch with them often, and they've given me a lot of individual attention.

Julia Guichard is my theater adivser. Outside of class, she's challenged me to pursue auditions and workshops. Inside of class, she's helped me develop my acting skills.

In education, Tony Romano has been my mentor. He's a really good resource for student teachers. He helped me find my student teaching position at Mason High School near Cincinnati, which is perfect for me since it's half English teaching and half theater.

After I graduate, I hope to teach in a suburban school district and work my way up to being the drama teacher. Miami is really good about placing its students in teaching jobs.