She earned her undergraduate degree at Calvin College, where she studied nursing and international development. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, she worked as a labor and delivery nurse near the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. For her global health practicum, she worked with the Centering Pregnancy program at La Clinica Nueva Vida in Nashville, where she explored the benefits and challenges of implementing group prenatal care within a Spanish-speaking immigrant population. She remains committed to caring for underserved populations, and her long-term career goal is to help train midwives internationally.