Once I began to work, I felt building relationships in the community was important. Much of my experience began as a youth coach, waiter, cashier, and basketball coordinator. I always enjoyed building connections with community members, hearing their stories, and advocating for changes they perceived were essential to them. I began college as a Division 1 track and field athlete, and witnessed and experienced athletes' mental and physical well-being being ignored by coaches and staff. This fueled my interest in learning more about counseling and sport psychology, so that I can provide mental health services to underserved populations.

While working on my master’s in counseling with a specialization in sport psychology at Boston University, an interest in activism, advocacy, and addressing systemic racism came about after experiencing racism within the academy and working with activists who took charge in the Boston community. I actively pursued opportunities that placed me in the Boston community, and founded and developed an organization named Counselors of Color in Training (COCITO) to provide a community space for minoritized counselors of color who enrolled in the counseling program at Boston University.

Now, as a counseling psychology Ph.D. student, I continue to be dedicated to my community's mental and physical health. I am committed to improving the lives of Black and Black LGBT+ youth, young adults, and families as a psychologist in training, psychotherapist, and community researcher. In doing so, I surround myself with mentors, friends, and colleagues who believe in and have similar goals in liberating and healing our community. Everywhere I go, I walk in with the mission to work with community members who have experienced racial trauma and systemic oppression and have seen their physical health or health behaviors be influenced by such distress.