My story.
As a doctoral student in School Psychology at Ball State University, my research interests lie at the intersection of twice-exceptionality and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Specifically, my scholarship focuses on psychometric considerations in ADHD diagnostic assessments and on reconceptualizing diagnostic criteria and symptom clusters to broaden understanding of adolescent and adult ADHD phenotypes.
I am an active member of several professional organizations, including the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Psychological Association (Division 16), and the American College Health Association. Additionally, I am a fellow of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.
My methodological expertise encompasses both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, informed by diverse epistemological perspectives. To complement this foundation, I am pursuing a certificate in institutional research to strengthen my capacity for data-driven institutional evaluations and advance my academic career. Concurrently, I am authoring a memoir that critically examines the lived experiences, diagnostic processes, and educational implications of twice-exceptionality and ADHD, integrating empirical rigor with contemporary theoretical frameworks.
Education.
Ball State University, IN
Doctor of Philosophy
Expected 2028
School Psychology
Graduate Certificate
Institutional Research
Master of Science
Dec 2023
Quantitative Psychology
Master of Arts
Clinical Psychology
Purdue University, IN
Bachelor of Science
May 2021
Psychological Sciences
Minor in Neuroscience
My Professional Identity
Science and Empiricism.
Empiricism has more than just being the “scientist” for my scientist-practitioner training model. I have considered myself to have always been a lifelong learner. To have asked why and how, over being satisfied by knowing the what.
Despite that, I do not just consider science as the grail of knowledge absolute. Rather, being a good scientist has been a journey of building epistemological and theoretical humility. Without which, I can never be a good learner or have the inquisitive drive to always question and research.
I always like to hilariously simplify good scientific practice as being a healthy skeptic. To know and accept that every theory, field, research method, or approach is a single or a select set of perspectives. Thus, good learning starts with being able to look at something within its constraints, identify its fallibility outside that constrain, and then repeat it again.
Assessments & Measurement.
As a a doctoral candidate in a scientist-practitioner program for school psychology; I take my professional responsibilities with integrity and ethics. My practical skills have aligned with the diagnostic and assessment lines of applied psychology. This entails more than knowing how to test or what to do in assessment work. Rather, the dual identity as a scientist allows me to pivot into the why are the test results a specific way. I have applied this perspective across my practitioner training: from interning at a rural public school district for psychoeducational evaluation work, to clinical training intersecting with neuropsychological testing.
Of course, this would not be possible by simply learning the variety of practical approaches in assessment work. My theoretical identity when applied in diagnostic work ensures that I view all data as good dataand no data as the absolute data. It seldom matters to me if I work with qualitative information, enriched individual experiences, or heavy quantitative metrics. The key has always been to look past the pieces of the puzzle. This often requires me to shift towards questioning the very nature of the concept/construct we intend to measure as opposed to the rigor of the data alone. After all, a thermometer does not measure heat; but instead temperature, and temperature varies depending on context! Psychometrics is no different…
Education & Advocacy
My work as a school psychologist in training, nor as an educational researcher comes without being passionate about the topic while also having to engage in institutional level advocacy. Educational work falls between academic research and professional psychological practice. Due to this, I hold a unique position of narrowing in abstract academic avenues of applied thought to scale beyond an individual level practical role.
My identity as an educational advocate integrates the measurement and data-driven rigor of diagnostic psychology while also the broader systems thinking abstract scholarly pursuits provide. The end result is to be an agent of change. Except, not for individuals, but for the communities that are served by the educational institution.
After all, policy impacting research has been the ideal aspiration for all my work as an academic researcher in the past. Moreover, actually being able to help students and children by making systemic changes is something I always hope to do in applied diagnostic psychology. However, to be able to do both simultaneously with actionable outcomes from my work is what closes my professional triad!