I am the Puente Counselor at the Petaluma Campus. I am originally from Lake County and graduated from Kelseyville High School in 1994. I attended UC Berkeley and received my Bachelor's degree in Social Welfare in 1999. I spent a few years working for various organizations and programs, but I found my passion when I became an Academic Advisor for a program called TRiO Student Support Services at Napa Valley College, which is a program very similar to Puente. I went back to school in 2010 to get a Masters in Social Work from San Jose State University while I was working full time. After 11 years working at Napa Valley College it was time to move on. I am/was a first generation, low-income college student. Being the first in my family to go on to college and coming from a low income background I know what it is like to encounter obstacle and challenges in  higher education. I made a lot of mistakes throughout my higher education and I am here now working with students to inform and educate them about choices and options so that they don't make the same mistakes.