I am very excited to be your pastoral intern for 2020-21 and feel incredibly blessed to be on this path. Ever since I was a child, I have felt the Spirit of God in the wind. I have felt a calling, and a yearning, for something greater than myself for as long as I can remember. My faith has always been important, thanks to my wonderful parents and Christian upbringing, but it hasn't been until recently that I decided to start on this pastoral path.

I am originally from Wausau, WI, and I graduated from UW-Madison with a bachelor's degree in Biological Aspects of Conservation. I worked in the field for several years but then moved back to my hometown, where I became the General Manager of a local Brew Pub. I enjoyed what I did at the Brew Pub because I was able to play a key role in creating community and in building relationships—both of which have always been an essential part of who I am. While working at the Brew Pub, I became more and more involved at my church. Soon it was brought to my attention by multiple people that I should check out seminary.

Seminary was something that I had thought about back in high school, but while I was in college, I really felt drawn to science and nature and decided to pursue that direction. Since graduating from college, I had been toying with the idea of going to graduate school. Throughout the years, nothing spoke to me as a path to pursue, until the idea of seminary was suggested to me yet again. The more I prayed, the clearer it became that this was the right path for me.

I am so glad that I took this leap of faith and left the comfort of my hometown—where my family (who I am very close to) and my fiancé still live. I am so blessed to have had the chance to embark on this new path, on God's path. I have found incredible support from my hometown church, my family, and my fiancé. I have also been challenged, frustrated, and even beside myself, but God has been with me through it all.