What is your job/position?
Historian at the Church History Department
Describe the path that took you from your American Studies degree to your current career or life situation.
I was not sure what I was going to do after BYU. I didn't feel like I had any direct career opportunities. Although there would be various possibilities, I felt very insecure without anything squared away after graduation. So, I applied to the master's in history program at Utah State and received a great editorial fellowship and scholarship to study there. I was so happy and excited to continue my studies. It felt like all of the hard work I had done as an undergrad had paid off. As I was finishing up at USU, I applied to work for the Joseph Smith Papers on the editing side, since I had a little bit of experience with that from the work I did as a grad student. I was a finalist but ultimately didn't get that job. My resume ended up on Kate Holbrook's desk, and she hired me to be a research assistant. After a year, I was approached by two historians on the JSP who encouraged me to apply for an open position on the team. I worked for the JSP for several years as one of only two female historians until our project wrapped up, and now I work on other Church History projects. It has been a great journey, one that I could never have foreseen.
What are the specific competencies you cultivated as an American Studies student that you now use in your professional life and that set you apart from your colleagues?
My colleagues are all academics, and most are historians. A few have done some research in other disciplines, but I think that the American Studies experience helped me to appreciate art, material culture, and religious studies in ways that improve my competence as a historian.
What are some of the surprising ways in which your American Studies degree has helped you in your professional or personal life?
I think that having a lot of context—social, political, historical, literary, etc.—for the American experience is so helpful. It has enriched my life and given me the lenses to see things that are familiar in a new way. My education has empowered me to ask questions and to remain curious.
What do you wish you had known as an American Studies student? What advice would you share with current students?
It can be scary to feel like everyone has everything figured out while you are not sure what direction to go. It can seem like professional working adults know what they are doing and always knew what steps to take. But everyone is just trying to figure things out, and sometimes you have to proceed when you don't know how it will all play out. As much as I wish I had branched out sometimes, I am glad I followed my passions and things I was interested in. There are no guarantees, but the right things will come into place when you are doing something you love.