I was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska where I attended Trinity Lutheran Elementary School and Lincoln Lutheran High School. I went to Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska and received a B.A. in Journalism/PR and Theatre Arts. In college it was my goal to continue work in theater, either as a professional or in higher education. As graduation came closer, I came to realize that I felt a calling to teach in high school.
After graduating in 2003, I got married and stayed in Seward where my wife, Erin, was working as a reporter for the local weekly paper. I worked in a factory with the intent that after a year or two of saving, I’d go back to Concordia to work on a teaching degree. Early on a Saturday morning in January of 2004, I received a phone call from my college roommate, Kale. He was teaching in Indonesia and had a question for me. During the Christmas holiday, their drama teacher quit and moved back to Australia without any notice. The school was in need of a new drama teacher and Kale wanted to know if I was interested. My wife and I were beginning to feel restless in the small town of Seward and didn’t need to think it over for very long, we just knew this is what we needed to do next.
In July of that year, we moved to Indonesia to teach at Sekolah Pelita Harapan in Sentul City, a suburb 30 minutes south of Jakarta. I taught English, drama and some religion classes and Erin taught English and history. During our three year stay, we grew to love the culture and the people so much that we still consider it our second home and think often about one day returning. While we were there we had the opportunity to travel during our breaks and went to many places all over Indonesia as well as Thailand and Turkey.
As we approached our third year, we began to feel the call of returning home. My father had been sick for some time due to kidney failure, he was disabled my entire life due to side-effects of various medications from kidney transplants, he had his first when he was 17, and other medical issues. Two weeks before we moved back to the US, and three weeks before his 54th birthday, my father died from complications of kidney failure.
I was anxious to return so I could head back to school to work on my degree. We had many friends who lived in and around St. Louis who suggested we look here to find work and a school. I realized that if I came to St. Louis, I could work on getting certified and get a Master’s degree, instead of returning to Nebraska to work on a second Bachelor’s degree from Concordia. We moved to St. Louis with Beans, the cat we rescued in Indonesia, and live with him and our dachshund, Maggie, in South City. In May of 2011, I graduated from Webster University with a Master of Arts in Teaching in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Media Literacy. I am currently a member of the Journalism Education Association.
After graduating in 2003, I got married and stayed in Seward where my wife, Erin, was working as a reporter for the local weekly paper. I worked in a factory with the intent that after a year or two of saving, I’d go back to Concordia to work on a teaching degree. Early on a Saturday morning in January of 2004, I received a phone call from my college roommate, Kale. He was teaching in Indonesia and had a question for me. During the Christmas holiday, their drama teacher quit and moved back to Australia without any notice. The school was in need of a new drama teacher and Kale wanted to know if I was interested. My wife and I were beginning to feel restless in the small town of Seward and didn’t need to think it over for very long, we just knew this is what we needed to do next.
In July of that year, we moved to Indonesia to teach at Sekolah Pelita Harapan in Sentul City, a suburb 30 minutes south of Jakarta. I taught English, drama and some religion classes and Erin taught English and history. During our three year stay, we grew to love the culture and the people so much that we still consider it our second home and think often about one day returning. While we were there we had the opportunity to travel during our breaks and went to many places all over Indonesia as well as Thailand and Turkey.
As we approached our third year, we began to feel the call of returning home. My father had been sick for some time due to kidney failure, he was disabled my entire life due to side-effects of various medications from kidney transplants, he had his first when he was 17, and other medical issues. Two weeks before we moved back to the US, and three weeks before his 54th birthday, my father died from complications of kidney failure.
I was anxious to return so I could head back to school to work on my degree. We had many friends who lived in and around St. Louis who suggested we look here to find work and a school. I realized that if I came to St. Louis, I could work on getting certified and get a Master’s degree, instead of returning to Nebraska to work on a second Bachelor’s degree from Concordia. We moved to St. Louis with Beans, the cat we rescued in Indonesia, and live with him and our dachshund, Maggie, in South City. In May of 2011, I graduated from Webster University with a Master of Arts in Teaching in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Media Literacy. I am currently a member of the Journalism Education Association.