I first tried to learn American Sign Language at age 10. I borrowed my school library's only ASL resources - two very heavy dictionaries - and set out to memorize both during a school break. Unfortunately, the break was a 3-day weekend, NOT a 12-week summer vacation, so I didn't get beyond the letter "A." Now don't get me wrong, "A" is certainly a valuable letter, what with all its articles ("a," "an"), conjunctions ("and") and prepositions ("about," "across," "around"). But try having a conversation using only articles, conjunctions and prepositions - it's not easy! It was half a decade before I expanded my sign vocabulary beyond the letter "A," but I like to think I've made up well for the lost time. You be the judge!

• Level I Certified SIGN with your BABY^TM Presenter (2004)
• Illinois State Provisionally Certified Teacher of the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing, K-12 (2004)
• Illinois State Provisionally Certified Teacher of Biology, Grades 7-12 (2004)
• Council on Education of the Deaf (CED) Provisionally Certified Teacher, K-12 (2003)
• New York State Provisionally Certified Teacher of the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing, K-12 (2003)
• New York State Provisionally Certified Teacher of Biology, Grades 7-12 (2003)
• Master of Science in the Secondary Education of Students who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing, The National Technical Institute for the Deaf/Rochester Institute of Technology (2003)
• Founder, Chicago Medical School's Deaf Culture Forum (2000-2001)
• Board Member, Chicago Medical School's Pediatrics Interest Group (2000-2001)
• Board Member, Chicago Medical School C.A.R.E.S. HIV/AIDS Education Group (2000-2001)
• Participant, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Professional Oncology Education Program (2000)
• Editor-in-Chief, "Signs of the Times" Newsletter, Santa Monica College (1999-2000)
• Bachelor of Arts in Biology, Amherst College (1998)