After graduating from Georgia Southern in 2012, Mrs. Butterbaugh served as a director of children's programming at a local church. Spending this "gap year" working between undergraduate and graduate school helped her make the decision to focus her pathway on helping others. She moved to Kentucky in 2014 to pursue her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy at Asbury Theological Seminary. 

In her practicum, she realized she much preferred the teaching and instructing side of therapy, and she shifted her focused into teaching. Her deepest passion is in service through teaching in higher education, because it allows her to not only teach but mentor college-aged students. She tries to invest in her students in and outside the classroom and she genuinely loves all her students!

Her research interest focuses on the identity formation process in emerging adults. In identity research, college is a time where identity formation begins to solidify for students. Students have many opportunities to explore in areas of love, work, and worldview. Although this period in the life course is exciting and ripe with change, it can also be terrifying to navigate alone. She believes that we do not become who we are without the support of others, and this conviction is her primary force of why she believes mentorship is vital to college students.

Outside the classroom, Mrs. Butterbaugh and her husband, Sean, live in Charlotte with their daughter Amelia and dog Lulu. They are avid gardeners--from peppers to peas, they love getting their hands dirty and teaching their little one about the earth.

Last updated by collinsr 08/12/2022