I’m an advisor to students who want to go to graduate or professional schools, giving advice about preparing, applying, and choosing schools in individual appointments and group sessions.  I also maintain the graduate school library and web site for the UCSD Career Services Center, coordinate the annual Graduate and Law School Fairs, and organize school recruiter visits.

I was a biology major in college, thinking of a career in psychiatry.  But my interest in mental health broadened to include counseling and career development.  After graduate school, I worked as a Counselor in Residence at Quincy College in Illinois, as Director of Career Planning and Placement at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, and as both a career counselor and graduate school advisor and coordinator at UCSD, which included a one-year job exchange at Oxford University in England!

Encouraging and challenging students to achieve their goals, pushing them when necessary, coming up with practical strategies to make them more competitive, and sharing in their satisfaction when they are admitted.  Making the information overload easier to manage.  Providing a chance for students to make contact with representatives of programs in which they might be interested, and visiting some of these schools.  Working with a great bunch of professional colleagues.  Being in the middle of all the action in the center of campus.

There is no formula for success in life, in your career, or in getting admitted to your chosen profession or school.  Try to discover as many “pieces” of yourself as possible in college, then the broader picture of your “puzzle” will become clearer.  Develop a reason for the school to want to admit you!

I am usually engaging in my passion for ethnic and gourmet foods; alternative, rock, or classical music; theater; suspense and science fiction movies; investing in real estate; hanging out with friends; going to the beach, zoos, or museums; traveling around the world; taking photographs; and surfing online.