Kansan by birth, Jayhawk by the grace of God.

This pithy statement rings true for me. I found my soul at KU. I developed artistically (learned to not blush in Life Drawing and enjoy the challenge of drawing the human figure), and flourished in art history classes. To learn the context of the art I was most interested in studying, I took all the German history and Greek history classes I could. My professors were excellent and challenging.

Fritz and Shirley brought me into this world and Lana welcomed me home in Lawrence, but we moved to Colorado when I was a mere 6 weeks old. A couple of times a year we packed up the family vehicle and traveled across Kansas to visit relatives and friends. I sledded on The Hill with my cousins, remembering to bail just before sliding into Potter Lake, and explored the KU campus with my sister and friend Bob. I learned the local lingo, the layout of the city and how to get around. There was always great anticipation and excitement associated with going to Lawrence, so I viewed it as a magical place.

KU was where I belonged. I was awarded an art scholarship, and was hired as a student assistant in the Murphy Art & Architecture Library in the Spencer Art Museum. I developed friendships with an eclectic and diverse group of people, ate lunch by a Louise Nevelson sculpture outside the museum, went dancing to celebrate the completion of German finals, and was one of 16,000 singing the haunting Rock Chalk Chant at basketball games in Allen Fieldhouse. I thrived.

Rock chalk, Jayhawk!