1. I am more scared of the slow ride to the top of the rollercoaster than of the rapid plummet down.
2. I always thought I’d leave Minnesota for college, but when I started visiting out-of-state schools, all I wanted was to be back in Minnesota.
3. My siblings and I were always creating clubs while growing up. We had the Friends Forever Club, the Exercise Club, and the Story Society.
4. Science fascinates me, but it’s the hardest subject for me to understand. This dates back to fourth grade when I couldn’t hook up wires and a battery the right way to make a light bulb light up. That’s the first and only thing I failed in school, kindergarten through undergrad.
5. My strengths themes are learner, input, achiever, strategy, and ideation.
6. I have a German and Irish heritage.
7. I love being a writer and would never trade those skills– but I very much wish I was a visual artist as well.
8. I have a very strong interest in etymology, especially in onomastics, the study of proper names.
9. For most of my life, I’ve had a curiously strong memory, to the point where it shocks people.
10. I’m quite claustrophobic. My nightmares often involve tight, closed spaces. I can barely stand the idea of being underwater or in space.
JACKIE LEA SOMMERS 