After graduating from Mesa as Valedictorian, I achieved my dream and was accepted to UC Berkeley where I majored in sociology. At Cal (Go Bears!), I had my first opportunity to conduct my own research, carrying out two independent projects through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and McNair Scholars Program. These experiences reinforced my goal of pursuing a PhD in sociology, and I was overwhelmed with joy when I was accepted into Stanford’s doctoral program. At Stanford, I have enthusiastically pursued many opportunities to develop and utilize my research and teaching skills, and I have been an active mentor to other students, particularly those who have had to overcome similar obstacles in their pursuit of a higher education. 

In 2022, I completed my dissertation and received my PhD and have been working with incoming first-year students as a Teaching Fellow with Stanford's Civil, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) program. In Fall 2023, I am super excited to be joining the Department of Sociology at the University of California,, Santa Barbara as an Assistant Teaching Professor! 

In 2022, I completed my dissertation and received my PhD. Since then, I have been working with incoming first-year students as a Teaching Fellow with Stanford's Civil, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) program. In Fall 2023, I am super excited to be joining the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara as an Assistant Teaching Professor! 

Motivating all my work is a combination of both intellectual and personal curiosity, and I draw much of my inspiration from my own background and personal history. My first foray into research was my undergraduate thesis, which focused on an experiment I independently conducted to analyze men's responses to competitive loss in an academic setting. This project laid the groundwork for my ongoing research focused on contemporary masculinity and its contribution to persistent gender inequality. As my research on masculinity has evolved, so too have my methods and research interests. In  addition to experiments, I began incorporating qualitative methods and data to my research on masculinity. Moreover, I became increasingly concerned about the impact that opioids were having on my community and those close to me. While I remain committed to my line of research on masculinity, I have become intellectually and personally invested in uncovering the mechanisms perpetuating the opioid crisis, as well as its impacts on families. As such, I have utilized my dissertation as an opportunity to explore these issues. 

Outside of my research and teaching, I continue to write/play my own music, enjoy longboarding, have been certified as a personal trainer, love dyeing my hair (probably far too often), go to tons of concerts (a lot of metal and hardcore), and I recently built my own desktop computer. I am also a Twitch Affiliate, where I actively stream video games and academic related stuff. My favorite thing, however, is getting to spend time with my wife and dogs, who offer their endless love and support.