Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. She completed her doctorate in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on Gifted Education at the University of Connecticut. In 2009, she received the National Association of Gifted Children Doctoral Student Award. Her research has been published in the Journal of Advanced Academics and the Journal for the Education of the Gifted. Prior to beginning her work in academia, Hope was an elementary art instructor in Texas. She is the mother of two children.