Born and raised in Alabama the Beautiful, I attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts for Creative Writing.  It didn’t even occur to me to apply to the theater program at ASFA (even though I had itched to act in the 8th grade play all through junior high…and, frankly, acted out all of my daydreams when know one was watching…I saved the world many times in my parent’s living room…I still do sometimes), and you know what, I’m glad I didn’t apply to the theater program!!-my life would be incomplete without creative writing. When I was 18, I moved to Austin where I knew no one to attend the the University of Texas.  There I met Geography, Spanish, Teaching (well, I met that in Brownsville), and a really great guy whom I’ve kept.  I even figured out how outgoing I could be, and daring!-I started a UT organization with my friends and was a leader…who knew that would happen…and I think I learned more from that experience than any single course I paid for.  Now I’m a teacher, and sometimes I wonder what would have happened to me if I didn’t come to Texas…what would I be doing now?…would I be this happy?  I spend all day in the school year hanging out with the best personalities that could ever grace this Earth-and they’re only 10 and 11 years old!  By the end of the year what I think about the most is not what I’ve taught them but that I actually got to meet these kids and I wouldn’t have met them if I did something else with my life.  Above is who I am.  Theater, while I love it so much and thrive on how invigorating and even cleansing it is, is only me in the summers.  I always come back…I will always come back.  The Weirds are a special gift that no one should overlook.