Originating from the northeastern US, I received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, near Hartford, then moved to the Southwest where I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, before moving east of the Rio Grande again to South Florida in 2001.In New Mexico, I worked as a writer and an editor, both freelance in the arts and healing arts, and also for the state of New Mexico in public relations and Los Alamos National Laboratory as a technical editor in the environmental field on scientific reports that assessed the impact on the air, earth, and water from the experiments that were conducted on the first atomic bomb in that historic area. A writer-turned-teacher, I taught English composition, specializing in Distance Education at Miami Dade College's Virtual College and campuses as well as other colleges in South Florida, including FIU, Broward College, and Palm Beach College from January 2004-December 2015.I brought my professional and personal experience in pluralistic environments to the virtual classroom to assist students who will work with many different people of diverse cultural, ethnic, and professional backgrounds in the workplace as they enter the work force.The beauty of the southwest landscape stimulated my artistic creativity, which led to writing and publishing a book called Cry of the Hawk for Her Beloved, A Woman's Healing Journey to Higher Consciousness, a fictional, allegorical record of my foray into the spiritual practices of other peoples, primarily in the Middle East and the indigenous Native practices of the Americas. You may catch an interview at the MDC Kendall Library Blog .