Dedicated 17,000 hours of national service as a VISTA to reduce poverty by enriching the education of disadvantaged youth using the four foundational AmeriCorps objectives: Creating sustainable solutions, building capacity, empowering communities, and fighting poverty. Coordinated Reading Buddies, an after-school tutoring program in partnership with the Office of Civic Engagement at Wilkes University, to implement literacy interventions in three local schools and one non-profit organization in a hybrid tutoring format.Recruited, trained, and supervised college students as tutors and mentors for elementary-aged school children from disadvantaged backgrounds and homes.

At the Wilkes University NTRC, I helped clients meet their goals through biofeedback and neurofeedback trainings. The objective was to help clients' meet their personal goals of reducing stress and anxiety, increasing a sense of calmness, maximizing performance, and enhancing focus and attention among many other goals. I worked with clients through a variety of modalities including Audio-Visual Entertainment (AVE), Muse, Heartmath, Mindfulness, Meditation, and Neurofeedback.

Anticipated and managed customer needs in a high-volume restaurant creating a formal and fine dining experience. Hired as a back server, promoted to restaurant and banquet server.

Thomas, J. J., Newell, E. E., Barletta, T., Biechy, L., D’Augostino, K., Guziewicz, J., Morrison, M., Sherman, J., & Ward, A. (2020, August). What motivates young adults to take action for gender equality? Poster presented at the American Psychological Association, Washington D.C.Contributed to two main projects: A larger survey study that investigated college student wellbeing, identity, friendship, and forms of political and gender equality activism; A study that examined whether feminist identity predicts women’s resilience vs. vulnerability to stress.Administered survey to college students, entered survey data into SPSS, checked other research assistant's data entry.Served as a “monitor;” tracked and recorded physiological responses (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate) on a computer monitor at specific time points during the study.Responsible for playing specific pre-recorded instructions at very specific times during experimental session.Assisted with data cleaning, transformed physiological data, and reverse coded output into SPSS.Assisted with monthly data entry for usage reports for the Al Beech/West Side Food Pantry.

Gained an understanding of state regulations and guidelines concerning foster care and adoption through attending court hearings, adoption finalization hearings, trainings, and SWAN meetings.Developed child preparation activities used in interviews with foster children.Helped to complete, file, review, and interview foster parents and paperwork pertaining to all services offered.