I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. My dad is a truck driver and my mom babysit when I was younger and then worked as a para in the school system. My mom grew up in Chicago and half of my family was still there when I went to college and I wanted to go to the big city. I went to the University of Chicago for both undergraduate and medical school. I had campus jobs to help pay for tuition every year I was in school. I am now a family medicine doctor here at the University of Iowa. I have a strong patient for taking care of adults with intellectual disabilities. I have a brother with Down Syndrome who is now an adult and still lives at home with my mom and he has been a great teacher in helping me advocate for this population.