I was born in Lisbon, Portugal into a Fundamentalist Baptist missionary/pastor's family. As the only girl with three brothers, it was not expected that I would enter into academia (or particularly into the field of religious studies), but I excelled in school and displayed gifts of teaching and leadership in the church early on, beginning with teaching four-year-old Sunday School in fifth grade and leading into my role as a Middle School Youth Minister in college.
My undergraduate Old Testament professor changed my life when he taught me how to think critically about the Bible, specifically the texts that I had been taught excluded women from participation as equals in society and the church. He encouraged me to pursue Master's work and I completed the M.Div. and M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature at Fuller Theological Seminary, then the M.A. at NYU in the Draper School of Humanities and Social Thought, focusing on critical theory, postcolonial/feminist studies, and Hebrew Bible. My initial academic emphasis in biblical studies was Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, but I ended up rounding out my academic tenure with a PhD that focuses on both Hebrew Bible and New Testament. My dissertation looks at the intersection of the biblical text with imperial iconography, along with themes regarding power and ecological considerations.