I grew up on the west side of Michigan in Muskegon. My family struggled as I grew up for sure, but help from family and my community helped us immeasurably. I know what it's like to live in poverty first hand: food stamps kept me fed at home, free school lunches helped me be engaged in school, and medicaid kept me healthy enough to succeed. Those struggles gave me a strong sense of empathy for other people and a drive to help in ways that I can.

That legacy of helping those that need it the most has been my main motivation during my path in life. From going to Michigan State to broaden my horizons and challenge myself, to teaching other young students in graduate school, and finally my work in forensic science to help provide closure to families in need.

I address many problems from the realm of a scientist. Answering a problem with a hypothesis and then putting that guess of mine to the test. There are problems that I see in my community that are causing a lot of hurt to the people in Lansing, and I hope that I can put some of my solutions to the test to help people the way I was helped.