I entered the Ph.D. program in Linguistics at USC in 2003, after obtaining an MA from California State University, Northridge. I chose USC because I was interested in both theoretical phonology and Hispanic Linguistics. While at USC, I had a variety of professional development opportunities. I also found a great mentor in Rachel Walker - not only did she help me develop my research agenda, she also encouraged me to get involved in departmental and University-wide activities and was an outstanding role model as a teacher. I was able to hone my teaching skills while working as an instructor in both the Linguistics department and in the department of Spanish and Portuguese. In addition to taking advantage of resources in my department and the College, I attended many sessions offered by the Center for Excellence in Teaching, eventually becoming a Teaching Assistant Fellow. I really enjoyed both learning about the scholarship of teaching and learning and helping other graduate students inform their teaching based on scholarly work in the field. When I started my tenure-track position at Boise State University, I felt well-prepared to not only excel in my teaching, but to continue developing my research agenda, and to establish a linguistics lab at Boise State, where I now have the opportunity to mentor undergraduate students in research. I had great mentors at USC, and now those same mentors guide me as a colleague through my career as an academic.