I am passionate about all aspects of food in relation to food preparation and consumption, and am driven to teach students the fundamentals of culinary arts to improve their food knowledge and hands-on skills that will impact their careers and daily life. Outside of teaching culinary arts classes, I enjoy planning and executing catered events on the UTK campus that promote our students and hospitality program. Community engagement is an important part of my career. Creating and assisting with food4VOLS has been an eye-opening and fulfilling part of my career, where I am working with food that typically gets overlooked, all while helping those who are facing hunger challenges at a university setting. Growing food4VOLS to be a national brand is part of my 10-year plan, where we at the University of Tennessee can lead the way to ending hunger amongst college students and reduce food waste.