What makes you a Difference Maker?    

I think what makes me a Difference Maker is the passion I have to make a difference. I found my own purpose of giving whatever I can to the people around me. Seeing someone else smile makes me smile, and I smile a lot. 

Highlight your campus achievements:

I’ve received the Blueprints Leadership Certificate, Leadership Synergy Certificate and have been chartered as vice president of Circle K International.

As president of the Alliance for DisAbility, our organization has raised over $15,000 from our last three Annual Benefit dinners, which has helped children and adults in the community with disAbilities. We’ve also had thousands of students and faculty sign a pledge to erase the “r” word in the last three years combined. 

Highlight your leadership experiences both on and off campus:

One campus:
President of the Alliance for DisAbility Awareness, 
Vice President of Circle K International
Political Chair of SOAC (Student Organization Advisory Council)

Off Campus: 
Coach of Special Olympics Unified Sports, which I helped start
Coordinator of Special Olympics Metro All-Stars

What is your dream career and/or long term life goal?

I hope to work with children and adults with disAbilities in any way I can—I love interacting with them and I’ve found my own identity in their smiles. In the years I’ve worked with children and adults with disAbilities in different programs, such as ICanBike, Very Special Arts, and volunteering at schools, I’ve walked away with far more than I can ever give them. I’ve learned so much, and I knew through my volunteer experiences that this was what I wanted to to do with the rest of my life. 

What was your most defining moment at UM-Dearborn?

One of my most defining moments, because I’ve had many, was my last benefit dinner in which all of the proceeds went to the Penrickton Center for Blind Children. We raised close to $5000 and I was so proud of how far Alliance for DisAbility Awareness (ADA) had come. We’re a very small organization on campus, but that dinner—which was attended by close to 300 students, the chancellor, vice chancellor, dean of CASL and many others on campus—was anything but small. Seeing that room full of people from our campus who cared about giving back to the community and helping persons with disabilities made me feel proud to be call myself a UM-Dearborn student. That room was full of young leaders and students who I know will change the future, and my organization of less than ten people brought them all together.