After receiving my Bachelors in piano performance from Cameron University, I accompanied for local theaters, and public school choir programs as well as taught 60+ students a week at a music store called G&G Music. Not long after that I bought that store and managed it for several years. As the owner and main instructor, I had several jobs but specifically, I recruited teachers in all fields (strings, percussion, piano, voice) to teach alongside myself, sold musical instruments, maintained every instrument (or found someone who could), and I managed the advertising and marketing of the store. The flexibility of owning a store gave me the freedom to teach high school and middle school choir for one year at a private Christian school. Working at this private school and teaching beginning music theory as an adjunct at the university allowed me to see that I could teach large groups. It was the beginning of my love for classroom teaching. In 2012 after teaching at the private school, I sold the music store and maintained a school of music for the next three years. During those years I began accompanying for high schools and middle schools full time and found again that I had a love of classroom teaching. These crucial accompanying years allowed me to view several choral directors in both the high school and middle school levels. This newfound love pushed me to begin pursuing a masters in education at Cameron University and later helped me to become certified to teach K-12 music in the Oklahoma public schools. My first public school music job was at an elementary school in Duncan, Oklahoma and then later in the Lawton public schools. It was during this time that I switched to Southeastern Oklahoma State University and obtained a Masters degree in Choral Music Education. While teaching public school I taught choir to 100 plus students each semester and taught group piano classes to 100 plus students. In total there were 200 students each semester in either the piano or choir classes. I directed musicals, taught music history, directed choirs, and performed many performances with these students. While maintaining the full time teaching job I also directed the orchestra for the Duncan Little Theater, accompanied for the Lawton Community Theater, and maintained a church organist job. ? Now I am overjoyed to use all of my experiences to teach at Columbia State Community College. I have a true love for collaborating, creating music, music history, music theory and performing music. I believe that all students should strive to learn all they can about music and have opportunities to perform and collaborate musically on a regular basis. I believe that music is a collaborative entity and allows excellent team building. Students who are able to perform and interpret music together build strong bonds and help create a successful music program.