Information has little value without the means to communicate it. Whether verbal, textual, or visual, an idea is an act of transference. Communication binds thoughts, ideas, and people together to form progress, and so I strive to communicate clearly and elegantly. My successes include a weekly podcast, scientific storytelling, and teaching.
Podcast
I am a weekly co-host of the Only the Strongest capoeira podcast. Along with the other hosts, I answer questions from listeners and dispense friendly, helpful advice. Our main goal is to disseminate our opinions and philosophies of this sport in a way that both educates and engages listeners. I bring my training as a psychologist to our lively conversations to help sift useful insights from specious thoughts.
Scientific Storytelling
I have trained to tell stories both visually and orally. As an example, I was given the challenge of presenting my undergraduate research to an audience at the University of Colorado. Rather than relying on Powerpoint, I drew my ideas as a cartoon to keep the presentation engaging and unexpected. The characters helped communicate some complex research topics: what you think about yourself working out, what you think of your romantic partner working out, and what you think your romantic partner thinks about you working out.
Teaching
I have been practicing the sport of Brazilian capoeira for over fourteen years. I owned and ran a capoeira school in Denver, CO, from 2010 until 2018 when I decided to focus full-time on becoming a PhD student. As the owner, I taught classes, developed curriculum, oversaw rank advancements, formulated marketing, and even sourced uniforms from Brazil. Over thousands of hours of teaching, I constantly tested and refined lesson plans to help students learn and understand the material more effectively. Eight years of the struggles and rewards of entrepreneurship gave me a wide perspective on how varied and multi-colored our culture can be. I still enjoy capoeira, and continue to give workshops around the country.
