I received my Bachelor's degree in Communications at UNT in May, 2011. Shortly after graduation, I began work at The Hockaday School, an all girls' Independent School in Dallas, working in the Development and External Affairs Department. I manage the School's Annual Fund, which supports and provides for many different aspects of the School. In my almost four years working at Hockaday, I have raised over $8 million for the Annual Fund and have been instrumental in raising funds for the School's current $100 million Capital Campaign .

To some, fundraising for an institution might seem bleak, but what I quickly realized in my role, is that each day is an opportunity to tell a story (perhaps I can attribute this to taking a summer session of "Story Telling" in the Black Box) and find unique ways to inspire others to be charitable. When thinking of how my Communications degree benefits me in my current position, the ways are countless. I work with hundreds of volunteers, write countless letters and appeals, make fundraising calls and requests, and even attend and present at annual fundraising conferences.

For all of these tasks, I can attribute success to my studies at UNT. I can confidently say that the endless amount of papers due in any given Communications class taught me to not only pay attention to the most minute details, but also to be original and creative in my writing. My personal favorite was any class on Interpersonal Communication, shout out to Dr. Richardson and Dr. Wang as this is their specialty! If I could make an easy living off "people-watching", I would do it in a second!

I forever will be grateful to UNT and the Communications Department for all that they have done for me. Go Mean Green!