I began my career in archaeology while attending high school. However, during these years I was torn between pursuing a career in archaeology or paleontology. At sixteen (1996), I joined a research team from the University of Notre Dame digging up dinosaurs. My primary task was to assist in survey work and sorting of bone material. Our field house was located in the ever exotic locale of Ft. Peck Montana. The field season was made exciting when I made my first ‘find’ – a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth. This tooth led to the eventual find and huge legal battle between our field director Dr. Keith Rigby and the folks who owned the land. Nevertheless I made a find, and I have photographic proof!
My next experience came the following summer (1997) when under the guidance of the esteemed Dr. Stuart Tyson Smith (my current graduate advisor) I began interning in the Egyptian Archaeology Lab at UCLA. As an intern, my responsibilities were to draw pot shards collected from Nubia. The ceramics were an in-house collection excavated by Alexander Badawy. Under the dull glow of fluorescent lighting, I toiled over minute details of broken bits of pottery. Though the days were quiet and long, I gained a realistic understanding of the discipline and a passion for the job. I was hooked. From that point I made the decision to pursue archaeology. For as long as I can remember I have had a deep interest in the Egyptian civilization, therefore it was a natural fit for me to pursue Egyptian archaeology.
I graduated high school in 1998. Because of personal and financial reasons I chose to go to a junior college first. I enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College, located in a suburb of Los Angeles. I transferred to UCLA in 2000. I received generous scholarships based on my academic performance. So I am naturally very grateful to the good folks at UCLA.
At UCLA I began another internship in the Egyptian Archaeology Lab. This time I worked under the guidance of Dr. Willemina Wendrich. I owe a great deal to her and her husband Dr. Hans Barnard, who both showed me the ins and outs of the Egyptian archaeology scene, while instilling in me extremely high and rigorous academic standards. Dr. Wendrich has been, and continues to be an enormous influence on my academic life.
While at UCLA, I developed a profound interest in many social/cultural issues relating to the construction of identity. Specifically I was interested in the politics of the formation of the ‘self’ and the relationship people have with their perceived ‘other.’ I pursued both Egyptian archaeology and my cultural studies interests within the major of anthropology. By weaving both socio-cultural issues/theories with Egyptian archaeology I began to carve out an academic course of study.
I graduated summa cum laude in 2002 with a B.A. in Anthropology. I immediately enrolled in graduate school. I decided to go to UCSB to work, again, with Dr. Smith. My current interests are related to identity politics. In my career I want to study the fluidity and rigidity of how gender, social, ideological, and economic relationships form under ever changing political contexts. I am interested in how Egyptians and Nubians along the Egyptian-Nubian frontier negotiated their identities while balancing traditional perceptions of the ‘self-other’ dichotomy. Under these broad topics, I want to examine the pragmatic necessity of building a relationship with their respective foreign neighbors.
