| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | The most memorable experience I had as a kid was when I went to visit my uncle’s farm over winter break. I had just turned 12 and they wanted me to start choring now that I was older, so I spent every day there cleaning out chicken and pig pens. Probably 10-12 hours a day just scooping dirty straw with a pitchfork. After we left I was mad at my dad for taking me to the farm and I never wanted to go back but he just said, “cleaning pig crap builds character”. I still disagreed with him at the time, but now I know he just wanted me to have a work ethic, and it did help me appreciate my jobs in high school a little more. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I identify most with my sister in my immediate family. We’re a year apart so we know the same people and took the same classes in high school for the most part, and we have similar goals after college. She always wanted to be a CEO and I want to be a CFO, and we both take after our mom a lot too. We also both like riding jet skis and can beat anyone in mariokart. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | I most admire people who are unique and don’t care about what other people are thinking. My friends are generally outgoing and pretty much just say and do whatever they want, so I think having confidence to just be yourself is the best trait you can have. People who work hard and are passionate about something I also admire a lot. I think being driven but also enjoying yourself and being self-assured is a good way to live. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | The funniest thing that ever happened to me was probably a hiking trip I went on last year. My friends and I had a party the night before, so we were super tired and out of it when we left for the mountain at 5 in the morning. It was supposed to be an easy 12-mile hike, but we got lost 3 different times and pretty much everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong. We ended up sleeping on the summit even though we were supposed to be back that night and actually hiked 25 miles instead of 12 like we had planned. It was a little miserable, but it was also really funny, and I laugh when I think about all the things that happened. Probably half of the inside jokes I have with my friends now are from that hiking trip too, so I don’t regret anything. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | If I could travel anywhere without worrying about money or time, I would probably do a long cruise or van trip across Europe. The only country in Europe I’ve been to is Greece, so I would be seeing pretty much everything for the first time. I think a river cruise or just renting out a big car would be the best so I could go off and not have a super strict schedule. If I had to pick one country in specific to visit it would probably be Switzerland so I could ski in the Alps. Definitely would want to go to Denmark too since Kringle is one of my favorite foods. I’d want to go back to Greece again too just because the food is so good and for the history there. Outside of Europe, I think Japan or Taiwan would be the coolest place to go. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I think I’m a pretty easygoing person, but I also have a lot of goals and work hard. To me, it’s important to have a purpose and be proactive, while also just being in the moment and chilling out sometimes. I hope my kids will have a similar mindset because balance has always been what made me happiest. Besides that, I want them to be good people and express themselves however they want. |
