In my junior year, I was selected to be a McNair Scholar and had the opportunity to work individually with Professors Ralph Young and Bryant Simon to conduct my own in-depth research project. Under their guidance, and with support from the McNair Program and the Russell Conwell Center, I developed a project on the historical representations of black athletes—an interest that would become the foundation for my graduate work a few years later.

I graduated from Temple University in 2011 and immediately entered the PhD Program in History at Johns Hopkins University. While at Hopkins, I focused my research on race, gender, sports, and politics-building upon the work I had begun as a Temple undergraduate and McNair Scholar. I successfully defended my dissertation and earned my PhD in 2016.

I am now an Assistant Professor of History and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Penn State University where I am working on my current book entitled, 'Can't Eat a Medal': The Lives and Labors of Black Women Athletes in the Age of Jim Crow. I am so grateful for the support, guidance, and opportunities I had as a Temple Undergraduate—it provided a sturdy foundation on which I have built my career as a historian