I was born and raised in Lexington, Missouri, the descendent of English , Scotch-Irish and German farmers. I attended the University of Missouri and studied English literature and German. I have a B.A. and an M.A. in English and an M.A. in German. In addition, I am certifed in German, English, and ESL in the state of Missouri. I have lived and studied in Germany and previously taught in Taiwan. I have an intense curiosity about language and languages, especially German, Anglo-Saxon, Hebrew, and Chinese. I am currently trying to move my level of Chinese beyond the beginners’ stage. The desire to live in China and study Chinese was part of my motivation in coming to BNUZ.

Teaching has been both my career and my passion for over 20 years. I have taught English at the high school and college levels in the U.S. as well as English as a foreign language in Taiwan. I have also taught German at both the high school and college levels. Teaching Chinese students has always been a joyful and rewarding experience for me, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to share my love for and interest in my native tongue with Chinese students here in Zhuhai.

I love reading and thinking and would describe myself as a humanities junkie, my interests ranging across literature, history, religion, and philosophy. My intellectual and aesthetic influences have included the Puritans, John Milton, Herman Melville, John Calvin, Cornelius Van Til, and the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. I would like to learn more about Confucius and Confucian thought and hope someday to be able to read Confucius in the original classical Chinese.