I grew up in a small but lively town. Northfield, Minnesota is home to two liberal arts colleges, St. Olaf and Carleton, and its motto is Cows, Colleges, and Contentment. My dad teaches trumpet at St. Olaf, so it’s no surprise that my younger brother, younger sister and I all attended college there! My brother Christoph is still in his junior year, and my sister Julia is currently in Austria, taking a gap year with Rotary Youth Exchange. She decided to be an exchange student in part because both Christoph and I did a year abroad with Rotary right after graduating high school; I lived in northern Italy and my brother went to Indonesia. My gap year in Italy taught me a lot about being an independent and flexible person. My generous host family and classmates at school helped me to learn Italian and develop an appreciation (obsession?) for delicious Italian foods like spaghetti carbonara and prosciutto e melone.
When I got to St. Olaf, I was sure that I wanted to be a choir director because I enjoyed singing in choir and acapella group in high school. My studies in music theory and music history didn’t last long though! I soon realized that I loved studying foreign languages and interacting with people from different cultures, so teaching seemed like a better career choice.
