Hello My Name Is: JOE

Hi, my name is Joe. I was born in a small town in rural Minnesota called Starbuck. Starbuck has a population of about 1,300 people and was home to me for my entire childhood. I feel fortunate to have been raised in such a small, tight-knit, community and definitely feel it has helped shape who I am today.

Upon my graduating from Minnewaska Area High School I decided to move to the "big city" and attend college at the University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management in the Twin Cities. This was a major change in my life as the dorm I was now living in was about the same size as the town I used to live in.


My time at the University of Minnesota has been a time for tremendous growth in my life. I have been exposed to many new ideas, cultures, and opportunities that would have not been available if I were to have not taken the leap to come to such a large institution.

While in college I pursued a degree in Marketing (Carlson School of Management) with minors in Mass Communications (School of Journalism) and Leadership (Collaboration among the College of Education and human Development, the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and the Office for Student Affairs). My interests of study revolve around advertising, marketing strategy, consumer psychology, and leadership.


I had a couple ideas as to what I wanted to do when I graduated from college. I was very interested in going back to work for Target, a company I had worked for the summer before as a Business Analyst Intern, or pursuing a career in consulting. During my job search, or I guess I could say "career search," I began to have second thoughts as to what I really wanted to do when I graduated.

I was uncomfortable signing on with Target because it just seemed too logical to me. It would have been a safe and comfortable choice. I had really liked everyone I had worked with inside the company and enjoyed my time there, but I was still a little unsure if that is where I wanted to be at this point in my life. I slowly ruled out the consulting option as the economy began to change for the worse and I began to learn more about the lifestyle. Neither seemed to "feel right" at this stage in my life.

I wanted to pursue a job I could be passionate about. I wanted a job that I could be proud to tell my friends and family I do, and a job where I could feel my effort was going to something more than just making money. I really wanted to "make a difference," but I wasn't sure how.

I had heard about a program called Teach For America a couple times from some friends and decided that if everyone else thinks it would be such a good fit for me... that I should probably check it out. I went to an information session about Teach For America and was really interested. As a business student, with current job offers, I was a little hesitant to think that Teach For America would be a viable option for a career after school, but soon realized that I wanted to take the risk.


During the Fall/Winter of my senior year in college I had the great opportunity to coach wrestling at Saint Paul Johnson High School. My experiences while at Johnson helped to confirm my desire to work for Teach For America. I was really motivated by the growth I was able to see in the members of our team and how much I could really effect the lives of these students. Teaching was something I could really be passionate about...



After an extensive interview process I was informed that I had been accepted as part of Teach For America. I will be a corps member in Houston, Texas starting in June, where I will begin my summer institute. This is when my Life After College will begin...