I entered Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio as a history major in 2003, and almost immediately found a job at the Western Reserve Historical Society library. This job helped cement my dedication to the field of public history. Every day I helped many patrons research dissertations and journal articles, but I helped many more learn about history on a more personal level. They came looking for ancestors, or the history of their communities. During my second year in Cleveland I found a job at the Dittrick Medical History Center where I was first exposed to the behind-the-scenes aspects of public history work. I learned about collections, curating, and the study of material culture. By my senior year I was looking for graduate programs in public history. I decided on the M.A. program at American University because of its strong reputation and proximity to an unparalleled number of cultural institutions.

At American University, I learned all of the forms that public history could take, and simultaneously benefited from in-depth graduate training in academic history. I learned about museum management, the development of interpretive materials and exhibitions, fundraising, digital history, and archival practices. I gained real world experience developing wayside signs for the National Parks Service, and cataloging collections for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Though I am primarily interested in curating, interpretation, and historical research, my experiences have collectively prepared me for any number of jobs in the public history field.