Macon State College MVPs is a web feature that profiles notable students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Family: Husband, Elliott; two cats, J.W. and Miss Piggy; a tortoise named Shell; and a fish named The Fish, as in, “Have you fed The Fish yet?”

Job Title: Assistant professor of speech.

Degrees: Bachelor of arts in communication studies and master of arts in communication studies from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Iowa.

Year she joined the Macon State faculty: 2006.

Some of her teaching career highlights are … “When students tell me that the experiences they had in my courses helped them in their other classes, their jobs or their other obligations. It makes me extremely happy to know that they are able to apply what we learn in class to other aspects of their lives.”

She enjoys teaching at Macon State College because … “I get the opportunity to work as one of the faculty advisors to the students who are on the staff of the student newspaper, Matrix. We have such a fine group of dedicated students and it is a pleasure to interact with them.”

Her favorite course to teach is … “Public speaking. I love the subject and I love seeing students overcome their nervousness and give great speeches.”

One thing people don’t know about Macon State is … “They turn off most of the lights at night. If you get here too early you have to make your way to your office without a lot of light.”

One thing people don’t know about her is … “I am a huge fan of horror movies.”

In her spare time she likes to … “Read, make jewelry, travel and hang out at home.”

The one person she’d most like to meet is … “Alice Paul. She was a very gutsy and determined suffragist whom I admire.”

If she wasn’t a college professor she would be … “Either an FBI agent, because I watched too much X-Files in high school, or I would work at a museum because I love history.”