Hello! I am a first year student in the Applied Linguistics MA Program here at the University of Montana in lovely Missoula. I am very excited about being part of the Blackfoot Language Group. To be able to both study and help with the revitalization of a language such as Blackfoot is a wonderful opportunity. I am looking forward to making a real difference!
I was born and raised in and around Albany, New York. I completed my undergrad work at the University at Albany, SUNY and received my Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology and East Asian Studies. I started studying Japanese there immediately after taking my first introductory Linguistics course. I was also the recipient of two Freeman Foundation Scholarships. The first was a full scholarship for a summer seminar exploring the architecture of China's ancient capitals. We visited Beijing, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Xi'an, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. It was my first experience in Asia and I loved every minute of it. The following spring I received another Freeman Scholarship to study abroad at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan for a semester. This was my first experience doing a home-stay and it had a profound impact on me. Understanding how people live and speak at home in addition to at school or at work is an important aspect of language acquisition and functional usage. One year later I found myself back in Osaka for what would ultimately become a four year stint in the JET Program as an Assistant Language Teacher at a handful of junior and elementary schools in the city of Yao. Upon finishing my Master's Degree I plan on returning to Japan, but will probably reside in Hiroshima or Yamaguchi Prefecture - even further west of Osaka!