Hi, I'm Cole O'Donnell: former educator, current edtech grad student, kid at heart, and serious snack enthusiast. I found my way to education (both my own, and as a professional field) through volunteering with Sanctuary for Families NYC. The relationships I cultivated with survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, many of whom were children, helped me realize that creative curricula can save lives.

Before that, I ran my own on-site brand outreach company for natural products at health food stores around NYC at places such as Whole Foods Market. And before all that, I performed massage therapy at chiropractic offices, nutritional clinics, and... places such as the ubiquitous Whole Foods Market.

After my volunteer work with school-aged youth at Sanctuary, I went on to full-time employment (and full-time studies) working in the Pre-K childcare program at their transitional facility in Manhattan. While there, I embarked on a CUNY adventure, attaining an AA in bilingual childhood education, and simultaneously designing a dual BS degree in human development and education advocacy, which included graduate-level work and presentations of research at symposia on both the East and West Coasts.

Now I am an MSc graduate student at New York University, where I am able to combine my excitement and ambition for cutting edge-ucation, child advocacy, neurodiversity, and improving human beings' quality of life through learning and research. In the Steinhardt Educational Communication and Technology's Games for Learning program, I study learning and cognitive sciences, as well as games, play, and simulations in education, while specializing in UX design to optimize content creation and iteration from an inclusive, human-centered perspective.