My formal interest in psychology began as an undergraduate at Purdue University at Fort Wayne.  While there I conducted work with several faculty members on topics that ranged from gender differences in working memory to the role of group identification in reactions to social dilemmas.  Additionally, I had the opportunity to work on an independent project in the area of social cognition, specifically person memory.

After graduating in the winter of 2002, I continued to work in psychology labs at Purdue and took my first post-graduation job as a case worker.  After about a year, I made my decision to enter into graduate school.  In the fall of 2004, I came to the University of Iowa as a graduate student in the Personality and Social Psychology area.  While at Iowa, I have worked with Paul Windschitl, Jerry Suls, and Irwin Levin on projects related to optimism, risk, and social comparison, to name a few.