About Me
Bio & Educational Background
I was born July 8, 1978 in the City of Hopkinsville, which is located in Christian County, Kentucky. I am the youngest of four children.
I attended Christian County High School, graduating in 1996. Up to this point in my education, I had experienced a pretty crazy ride. During all of my elementary school years I was in special resource (or special education) demonstrating significant impairments in reading comprehension, writing, mathematical aptitude, and diagnosed with speech/language problems. Luckily, I was fortunate to have very caring and compassionate teachers who did not give up on me and would not allow me to fall through the cracks. In transitioning from the 4th grade to middle school, I tested out of special resource and was put in a standard educational curriculum. From that point on, I excelled in most of my academic endeavors. By the time I reached high school, I was taking advanced level courses and during my junior and senior years, I took several advanced placement (AP) courses. I demonstrated advanced aptitude in creative writing, the humanities, history and other social sciences, and the physical sciences including biology, chemistry, and physics.
Following high school, I attended Hopkinsville Community College (HCC), graduating in 1998 with my Associate of Arts transfer degree. My firm appreciation for the notion of the "community college" was soundly constructed during my very substantive years at HCC. I cannot remember a single negative experience while attending HCC. I had extremely knowledgeable and caring professors who really took the time necessary to help students understand course content. I try to model my own professional conduct after several of these individuals; to the best of my ability, I attempt to demonstrate to students that I care about their educational well-being, their personal growth and development, and their future success.
After HCC, I transferred to Austin Peay State University (APSU) located in Clarksville, Tennessee, where I double-majored in psychology and philosophy. People often ask why I decided to study psychology and philosophy together, and I tell them that psychology, like all the social sciences, is a "child" of classic philosophical inquiry. Much of the subject matter of scientific psychology was once a matter of deep reflection and sophisticated discourse. Pairing these two subjects together gave me a more substantive appreciation of the relationship between human thought and behavior.
I graduated from APSU in 2001 with my Bachelor of Science degree. After graduating from APSU I enrolled at Capella University, a regionally accredited institution of online learning located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Enrolling at Capella was actually a huge move for me! Up to this point, I was used to face-to-face, "brick and mortar" style education. The program that I decided to enroll in was entirely online. I was extremely skeptical at first, believing that I could not get a quality education via the online medium. However, after the first week I was proven dead wrong! I had never experienced a more rigorously challenging and involved curriculum. Additionally, I communicated more with my professors than I ever had previously. I attribute my firm knowledge of the psychological sciences to my academic experience at Capella. From that point on, distance education was the thing for me!
At Capella, I majored in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Developmental Psychology, graduating in June of 2003 with my Master of Science degree.
Presently, I am pursuing my Ph.D. in Psychology at Northcentral University, another fantastic regionally accredited online institution located in Prescott, Arizona. I hope to complete my doctoral studies by May of 2009.
Work History
My work experience is varied, but each professional experience is founded on the themes of human service, mental health advocacy, juvenile justice, and child welfare. I possess over 8 years of good experience in human and social services.
I began my professional career as a human service professional at the Christian County-Hopkinsville Family YMCA. I served in several positions at the YMCA including Community Outreach Worker, Caregiver, and my highest position was that of Site Director for the YMCA after-school programs. While working at the YMCA, I also worked for the Pennyroyal Mental Health Center in Hopkinsville, KY. I served as residential counselor for a level 1 group home for adolescent males presenting with emotional/behavioral problems and substance addiction, as well as involvement in the juvenile justice system.
Following the YMCA and Pennyroyal Center, I sought employment with the Clarksville Primary Treatment Center (CPTC), a level 3 juvenile detention facility serving both male and female juvenile delinquents. The CPTC also housed juvenile male sexual offenders on a separate wing of the building. I began my work at the CPTC as a Direct Care Counselor. I was promoted to Direct-Care Supervisor after one month. Having worked in residential treatment, I have a firm respect and gratitude for those currently employed at a residential treatment center. The work is hard, the hours are long, and the pay is mediocre, but the intrinsic rewards are many. Making a real positive difference in the life of just one youth is the best compensation in the universe!
Following CPTC, I sought employment with Centerstone, a nonprofit community-based mental health organization based in Nashville, TN. I served in several positions including Child & Youth Case Manager, In-Home Family Specialist, and my highest position was that of Program Coordinator for the Home-based Counseling Program. Following Centerstone, I secured employment with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS). I served as Team Leader for the Family Support Services prevention unit, serving Sumner County.
My teaching experience includes serving as Adjunct Instructor of Psychology at Hopkinsville Community College. I also served as a trainer in my various jobs mainly focusing on issues related to human development, child/youth substance abuse, human sexuality and sexual diversity, cultural & diversity issues, and field-based social work competency.
Currently I serve as Instructor of Psychology at Columbia State Community College. I believe that my real-world experience in human, social, and community services brings practicality and concreteness to the courses that I teach at Columbia State. Adult students appreciate knowledge that they can actually use in their day-to-day life and I try to bring real-world examples of the theories and concepts into the classroom. I believe this makes learning more "real" and "useful" for adult students.
From my colleagues to my students, I have enjoyed all of my experiences at Columbia State and I sincerely hope to forge a lifelong and meaningful career at this college!
My Goals as an Educator
My primary goal as an educator is to enlighten students to the fascinating study of mental processes and behavior, otherwise known as psychology. I do not consider my teaching style to be very difficult or unnecessarily complex. There is the standard fare in my courses such as pop-quizzes, exams, and writing assignments; however, I have found that students learn best from a rich and substantive discussion of relevant topics and contemporary/controversial issues. To this end, I expect students to read ahead and come prepared to listen, to interact, and to be fully engaged in discussion and lecture.
I do not hide my personal viewpoints on the major issues of the day from my students, but I do attempt to present a very moderate perspective on most major issues of the day and I attempt to present as fair-and-balanced a point-of-view as possible. I think it is important for students to see their instructors as people with worldviews that serve to make them the unique individuals that they are. I consider myself to be a "moderate independent" on all socio-political, domestic and international issues and I regularly discuss ethics and morality in my courses. However, I encourage all of my students to offer informed dissent and to challenge my understanding of the psychosocial world. I also invite students to challenge their own understanding of things and to constantly question even the most deeply held convictions.
Hobbies & Interests
My hobbies include practicing amateur astronomy, writing poetry, journaling, collecting dolphin figurines, and watching documentaries on the History Channel. I enjoy spending quality time with close friends and loved ones. I am also a huge movie buff and I enjoy live theatre performances. My favorite movie is The Trip to Bountiful, my favorite song is My Funny Valentine performed by Anita Baker, my favorite television shows are The Golden Girls, The Simpsons, and Star Trek, and my favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs. My favorite saying is, "Cool beans!"
My scholarship interests are varied. I consider myself a "Renaissance Man" of sorts. My interests include, but are not limited to psychology (of course), sociology, anthropology, epistemology (the study of knowledge), theology, religious ethics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, humanism, existentialism, molecular and genetic biology, astrophysics, biochemistry, symbolic logic, World and U.S. History, ancient mythology, political science, and public administration. I am a true and proud nerd!
I am a believer that knowledge is power. The more you know the better off you are. There is no domain of the universe not worth knowing or off limits from the awesome power of the human mind. The human condition is mysterious, filled with great positives and contemptible negatives. However, it need not remain a mystery. Objective knowledge of the human condition can and should be obtained. Through the scientific method as well as an exploration of the many fields of knowledge, this is possible. I believe that the study of the human condition must be interdisciplinary, utilizing knowledge from many scientific and philosophical fields of inquiry.