Interview by Paige Miller, Features Editor
1. What led you to become a professor at Asbury?
“I always thought teaching at the university level would be incredibly rewarding, especially if I was able to teach creative writing. I never dreamed it would happen when it did, and it truly was an act of God and his work through the facilitation and encouragement of a lot of mentors and friends, which brought me here at this particular time in my life.”
2. Describe your personal college career. Where did you study, what did you study and what did you do after college?
“I studied here at Asbury University (although it was Asbury College when I was here), played volleyball all four years of college and majored in English Education. After I graduated, I went on to teach in public school in Indiana briefly, taught English in South Korea, volunteered on a Servant Team with Word Made Flesh in Sierra Leone and then moved to Tucson, Arizona to get my MFA in Creative Writing (poetry). Most recently, I’ve been teaching English literature at two different international schools in South Korea and simultaneously working on writing and publishing my poetry.”
3. Do you have any goals for the semester? If any, would you mind sharing?
“One of my goals is already on its way to being achieved! I wanted to get to know students better inside and outside of my classes, and this is happening already through the Diverse American Voices Book Club that Leah Bowshier and I have started. The first meeting is to discuss “Love Medicine” by the incredible Louise Erdrich, a Native American writer, and is at my house on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. See posters around campus for the other books and other dates. All are welcome!”
4. How do you plan on making yourself available to students outside of the classroom?
“Through the Diverse American Voices Book Club, through eating lunches in the cafeteria and through attending concerts and plays and sporting and cultural events. My husband and family and I have decided to live in Wilmore because we want to be able to attend as much on campus as possible. My office is currently impossible to find, so I’m not going to say office hours.”
5. What do you want students to know about you?
“I am a third culture kid (TCK) who loves reading and talking about books but also about a lot of other things. I’m interested in inclusion, tolerance, social justice, peace, culture, storytelling and diversity. I’m curious and generally interested in almost anything. I drink a cup of coffee in the morning and tea the rest of the day. I love used book stores. I have never stayed in the same place for an entire calendar year. I love Kentucky skies and am always homesick for somewhere. I wish I played the guitar — does anyone want to teach me?”
6. What are your hobbies or one fun fact about you?
Hobbies: “Yoga, making smoothies, reading and writing poems, running (sometimes, trying to get back into it), packing/unpacking and reading chapter books out loud with my kids.”
Fun Fact: “While at Asbury, I lived in a different dorm every year: Kresge, Glide-Crawford, Kresge basement, Aldersgate and then off campus. I’ve continued this pattern of moving and have just moved into my 15th home as a married adult. Sheesh!”
7. What is your favorite Bible verse?
“This is a really hard question. I’ve always loved Galatians 5:1 — ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’ I also really love all of Psalm 139, especially verse 5 — ‘You hem me in behind and before; you lay your hand upon me.’ I find both of those verses incredibly comforting.”
