I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1990 from Saint Louis University, the oldest university west of the Mississippi River and the second oldest Jesuit college in the United States.

The College of Arts and Sciences provided a well-rounded liberal arts curriculum that allowed me to develop strong critical skills, informed perspectives, and values that reflect the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

My SLU experience was transformative. The Frost Campus is where I came of age intellectually, socially, spiritually, and in many other ways. SLU gave me everything a student could want in an undergraduate program; a rich curriculum, a wise and caring faculty, and opportunities to flourish on campus. 

As an undergraduate student, I spent long hours in the Instructional Media Center and other computer labs writing papers and exploring multimedia and desktop publishing software. As a staff reporter for The University News, the campus newspaper, I met and interviewed visiting scholars, well-known professors, and SLU administrators. It was a privilege to have those opportunities and see my stories printed weekly.

The most memorable experience came from the serendipitous connection I fostered with the international students in the residence halls, especially the Spanish students. Living with Spanish-speaking roommates and interacting with native speakers daily accelerated my path to fluency in Spanish.

I applied for and was awarded the International Student Advisor position in the residence halls (1988-1990). I also received a Student Representative Award from the International Student Association (ISA) in 1989 for my participation in SLU's international student community.

I graduated with a double major; Communication and Spanish. In 1990, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages awarded me a graduate teaching assistantship in Spanish. Just weeks after receiving my B.A. degree, I enrolled in summer school and began taking courses for my M.A. in Spanish.