Learning By Heart

I graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies. Along the way, I encountered a peer education group called Creating Respect, Educating Wellness (by and for) Students (or CREWS) and found my true passion for helping others discover how they can be less intimidated about talking about, engaging in, or learning about sexual activities. I became a certified peer educator through a program offered at CSU and I have been talking with students about safer sex ever since!

Learn More About My Passion and Background

That's cool, but what other hobbies & passions do you have?

Although talking about sex and pleasure is my ultimate passion, I have multiple hobbies that keep my life balance in check. These include (but are not limited to) socializing with any dogs, particularly my own, hiking, being in nature, knitting, singing, cooking, learning new languages, and traveling. I lived in Switzerland for a year when I was 5 and I frequent the land of bread, wine, and cheese every year to be with friends and family and enjoy life’s simpler pleasures such as floating down the Rhein River on a hot summer day and meditating on the complexities of a crusty bread or salty cheese. Chocolate is my one, true love and I find myself never having enough, though I buy skads with every visit to the store.

Navigating through my ADHD led me to discover that knitting holds multiple benefits for me, including stress relief, a way to keep movement in my body when paying attention (it got me through 95% of my college courses!) and allows me to focus when my mind wants to wander. It's something I love to do in my free time as well, and I intend to keep teaching friends and family how to create knitted wonders the same way my grandmother taught me when I was 8 years old, sitting on her lap, trying not to stab myself repeatedly with the needles.

Music has also always been a passion of mine - I have a professional music career as a soloist as well as a small vocal coaching studio, and I taught classes at the Community College of Aurora as well. I found my love for Zimbabwean music when I was 7, and haven't put down the marimba mallets or hosho (traditional shakers) yet!

It All Started When...

At 2 years old, I asked my mother what a tampon was, allowing my curiosity to guide me. I found my proclivity through my undergraduate years, one day realizing how many friends of mine had come to me for sex advice. When I became a part of the CREWS family, it solidified my inkling that I needed to be in an environment where I could talk with others about their lives as sexual beings. My propensity to educate and myth-bust came from an extremely personal and traumatic situation in which I found out how little I had been educated in my current social climate around sex and sexuality. I was scared, had no idea where to turn for resources or the help I needed, and I wondered how many others had felt this same way. From that day on, I decided I never wanted anyone to ever feel the fear I felt from a lack of knowledge and conversation and committed myself to a future of helping educate as many as possible so that fear wouldn't exist anymore - only facts and resources.