"Many small people doing many small things in many small places will change the face of the world."

Describes both my philosophy on helping others and my motivation for couchsurfing. It's the little connections that can make a huge difference in the world. I'm just trying to contribute what I can.

I'm American-German (father from a city called Köln and mother from a farm with lots of corn), but I grew up in the USA. I'm a recent graduate of Mercer University, my majors included international business, finance and economics. My dream is to work in international development and poverty reduction, beginning as a Foreign Service Officer with USAID. After graduating in May of 2017 I completed a month long advocacy training program in Amsterdam called Humanity in Action, then moved to Washington DC to intern in the Congress. I then spent a year conducting research in Germany on the integration of asylum seekers and now I'm studying for a Masters at UC Berkeley!

Currently in Pretoria for the winter for a 3 month internship, then back to California to finish graduate school!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The reason I love Couchsurfing is that it makes us all citizens of the world, trusting each other and creating shared experiences. I've met so many great friends here, I just want to continue to impact people's lives and learn from others in turn.

Interests

I love reading, camping, hiking, climbing and traveling. I always believe that it's more about the people you are with than the things you are doing. That's why no matter where I am I love to have good conversations on everything from politics to religion, entrepreneurship and technology, economics, social issues and philosophy. Coffee is always a must.

• concerts
• beer
• coffee
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• camping
• rock climbing
• business
• entrepreneurship
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - The Beatles, Chet Faker, Rufus Wainwright, Mumford & Sons, Kendrick Lamar, Flume, Iron Maiden, Borgore, Daft Punk, Justice, Tove Lo. You could say I have varied tastes. Anything that moves the soul.

Movies - Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Big Lebowski, Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Requiem for a Dream, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, The Maschinist.

Books - Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, Song of Ice and Fire, The Warrior Prophet, and lots and lots of manga.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Co-founded a pop-up concert business promoting local artists in my hometown of Macon, GA. We bring the community together by hosting impromptu shows in unique places (parking decks, alleyways, and an abandoned Shriner Temple to name a few).

I also started a wearable technology company with my friends, and we're in the process of prototyping a fitness headband that delivers ears free audio through bone conduction!

After graduating I decided to launch my own company called LandLink, an economic analysis consulting firm that delivers assessment reports for urban development groups. If you see me at my laptop drinking coffee I'm probably working on statistical analysis or geographic systems for our next client!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach about American culture, global politics and econonics, business and entrepreneurship, travel tips and great places to visit.

I'm happy to learn about anything and everything! I'm really interested in practicing my German language skills though!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good conversation and a bottle of Pinotage.

Countries I’ve Visited

Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, United States