I was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the suburbs. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I majored in philosophy and graduated with Comprehensive Honors (both Honors in the Major and Honors in the Liberal Arts). I wrote my undergraduate thesis defending a necessitarian interpretation of Book I of Spinoza's Ethics. After two years outside academia, I began my Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Rochester in the fall of 2024.Outside of academic work, I have worked as a caddy, bouncer, finance intern, sales intern, marketing intern, project manager, healthcare tech consultant, and, my personal favorite, pizza cook.