Eventually, curiousity piques your interest, and you want to know who in the world I am...I'm 23, and originally from Minnesota. I attend grad school in Illinois. I'm a second year graduate student at Western Illinois University in the Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies Department-College Student Personnel, to be more specific. Last year, I worked in the Office of Student Activities with the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, as a Graduate Advisor/Production Coordinator. I advised three fantastic students, and worked with the various artists that we brought to campus. Outside of that, I also worked at Casa Latina with the International Friendship Club. Finally, I coordinated volunteers for the annual International Bazaar, as well as a few other various activities.

This summer, I worked at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, as a National Orientation Director's Association summer intern. It was a fantastic time, and I'm so glad that I had that experience.

This fall, I work with the First Year Experience back at Western. It's actually an assistantship that I designed - I work primarily with the peer mentors - doing student development and assessment. I also have a practicum with the Youth Performing Arts Series (which is linked with the Bureau of Cultural Affairs), coordinating that whole procedure.

Eventually, I'd like to work in student affairs at a midsized institution (somewhere between 10,000 and 30,000), maybe in something involving orientation, first year experience, or student activities. Right now, my plan is to search for my first job (post masters) at an institution on the East Coast.

In my free time, I catch up on what my friends are doing, work on graphic design, website design, and watch movies (some favorites are The Emperor's New Groove, Remember the Titans, The Shawshank Redemption, & Sweet Home Alabama). I enjoy watching television (current obsessions are The Apprentice and American Idol, although both of their seasons are finished) I also like doing crafty things, like knitting, scrapbooking, gardening (or really, hoping my plants don't die!), decoupage, and funky stuff like that. I like to watch men's hockey and football, but am not really all too athletic myself.

Geeky guilty pleasures: my iPod (Nanoo), my digital camera (Illusion), my jump drive (MiniMB), my cell phone, office supplies/organizational things (I like making binders!), souvenir pens, & postcards. One could say that I also collect mp3s, as I have way too many!

Speaking of music, it's a huge part of my life. I was actually a music minor as an undergrad, although I really was never very good - better than the general population, I guess, but not all that talented. Maybe it's more so that I'm incredibly nervous to sing in front of people...who knows. In any case, I always have some type of background noise on - I can't stand silence. Even when I have nothing on, it's okay because there's white noise.

Although I'm pretty quiet when you first meet me, I'd like to think that I'm friendly. I would say that it's tough to get really close to me, but once you do, I can be fiercely loyal. That can be both good and bad, because I can also be overly sensitive to a lot of things from my friends, and I tend to overreact/overanalyze everything. Overall, though, I'm a nice person, and I love meeting new people!