She has received the Red Apple Award, Teacher of the Year twice, four Alliance for Education Grants, Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation Grant, Best
Buy Teach Grant, three Landmarks of American History Grants, Shreveport Regional Arts Council Grant, two Kids in Need Grants, the AEP / SWEPCO Teacher Vision Grant, and a Louisiana History Grant.
On the one side, I was attracted to the freedom and challenges of academia but was daunted by the prospect of juggling so many tasks: writing
grants, hiring and mentoring students, developing and
teaching courses, publishing papers, devising research themes and experiments,
buying and stocking up a fully functional lab, and managing academia - related politics.