What is the most rewarding part of being a mom?

Seeing my daughter learn to be her own person in such a big, complicated, and tumultuous world. She radiates with joy and dances freely within her spaces and I love to see that. It means that my sacrifices and the community we have built around her has allowed her to explore without fear. I think I also find it rewarding to have an opportunity to learn to love in such an intimate, challenging and vulnerable way. Choosing to show up daily for my daughter is choosing to grow as a person.

What is one memory of your kids that you will never forget?

When my daughter started daycare. I saw her become her own person. She explored, played and enjoyed more about her confidence! I cried dropping her off because though I am pursuing research and employment for our family to be stable, my faith has also been most rewarding to do research that allows my daughter the freedom to learn, dream and create. To protect the sacred spaces she enters and allow her and other children to thrive is an irreplicable work that I am honored to do.

What would you do with $20,000?

I want to set aside money for her future. I want her to feel free to go to school, trade, or entrepreneurial opportunities when it is her turn to change the world. I also want to use some of the funds to alleviate some of our financial stressors that developed two months postpartum as I only work part time. And as a clinical mental health counselor, I would want time to invest in myself and allow rest to be accessible.