Introduction

It was a hot, sticky day in August, 1989 when I was born. I was a chubby, red-faced baby with cheeks much too large for my body. At age two my parents became well aware of my stubborn persistence when I started holding my breath until I turned purple and passed out, in quiet defiance after not getting my way. I was a quirky child with a mind of my own and a flair for the dramatic. After my grandpa referred to my hair as a “rats nest” I decided to give myself a stylish trim; which resulted in a pixie cut that left people thinking I was a boy. My eating habits revolved around one simple essential: butter. Butter sandwiches, butter and rice, sometimes even a spoonful of butter. My childhood was a mixture of playing and bickering with my three siblings while Priscilla, my English nanny, regulated the punches and kicks that inevitably resulted from mornings indulging in too much Power Rangers.

My true passions in life began at an early age. As a child I loved to read and spent entire days in my “Barbie room”, a four foot high storage area that housed my Barbie collection and various hamsters. I spent weeks painting ceramic houses and knickknacks. My best friend was named Macky, an adorable black lab that put up with the unfortunate makeovers I bestowed upon her, consisting of painted pink nails and photo shoots with hats. My siblings and I enthusiastically raced our hermit crabs, hamster, and guinea pig across the wooden floors of our house. Days were full of chaos and constant activity in my household.

 In an attempt to keep us busy, my parents enrolled my sister and I in figure skating, a sport we soon realized was not our style. Instead, we chose to follow our brother’s lead and joined an ice hockey team. Being little girls, many people were surprised by our keen interest in ice hockey that overpowered typical “girl activities” such as dancing or gymnastics but nonetheless, we loved it. Weekends were spent traveling with dad, going to hockey tournaments and weekdays consisted of school and practice. My sister and I were the only kids on the team who required dad’s assistance in gearing up at home for practice before trudging like dorks out of our car and into the ice rink in our flip flops.

My passions from adolescence stayed with me during my high school years. I loved sports and throughout those four years played hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, and soccer. My love for animals, and dogs in particular, stayed with me and still does, but after 18 years and my entire childhood, Mackey was gone and Darby became a new member of my family. My adorable Darby is a yellow lab, named after Darby, England, the city my nanny Priscilla is from because she gave her to us. A few years later, my uncle left us to temporarily watch his lab Abby and has yet to come take her back.

Throughout most of my life, summers have been spent lounging on the lake and winters on my dad’s home-made ice rink, playing hockey in my back yard. College and future careers were far from my mind during the majority of my teenage years. One thing I did know; however, was that I longed to get away from my hometown and while excelling in the subject of English, studies were likely to be headed in that direction.

The beginning of my college experience began at the University of Iowa. Unfortunately, the cornfields of Iowa weren’t everything I had made it out to be and I eventually ended up at the University of Wisconsin, a school which both my dad and older sister attended and which is just a mere hour from home. I quickly adjusted to life in Madison and loved it there. My direction in life was still a bit hazy and confusing, but thinking back to my high school years and interests has recently led me to declare myself a sociology major. Sociology is a broad major that allows me the flexibility to consider numerous occupations, but my main interests are either in law school or teaching. So far, my time here in London has been exciting and invigorating. I hope that this academic semester, as well as my worldly experiences here in London, will help me explore my horizons and push me to realize what I want to do with my life. I look forward to everything this beautiful city has to offer and to what is to come in the following months.