I was born in Stillwater (Go Pokes!), raised in Texas (Home of the Longhorns), and educated at OU (Boomer Sooner!). Starbucks and Sesame Street were born the same year I was – in 1971. I turned six months old in Mexico and celebrated my first birthday in Montreal. When I was three years old, I began ballet, tap, and jazz lessons. In third grade, I got swats from Mrs. Holy for talking excessively, then I never got in trouble at school again. I wanted to be Wonder Woman when I grew up. My favorite subjects in high school were English and Algebra. I developed a crush on Peter Parker – not one of the actors who played Spider-Man on the big screen years later, but the witty, selfless, nerdy comic book character created by Stan Lee. I graduated from high school a week before I turned sixteen. I never went to the same school for more than two years in a row until I started college. One of my dear friends calls me her “Amazon” (like Wonder Woman!), becuase I am six feet tall. Another close friend dubbed me “The One-Lung Wonder,” because most of my right lung was surgically removed in my twenties. Journalism was my first career; ironically, as it turns out, I am allergic to the cheap ink used in newsprint. I survived a traumatic childhood riddled with abuse, but I managed to turn this negative into a positive by being of service to others with similar experiences. My all-time favorite song is “Hallelujah,” written and originally performed by Leonard Cohen. I have an irrational fear of clowns. Despite my fair skin and freckles, I am on the Choctaw tribal roll. I am a sucker for alliteration and happy endings. Most of the time, I appear to be fairly confident. However, a little girl lurks inside, and she gets scared more easily than I would like. I choose to believe there is good in everyone; the world seems like a better place that way. I try to be optimistic and realistic. My handwriting is an unusual and inconsistent combination of print and cursive. Two traits I value above all others are honesty and humility. I can be stubborn and willful, so I pray every day for my Maker to make me teachable, because there is so much to learn in life when we let go of the lead.