I haven't used CS in many years, but I'm back now hoping to find a host for me visit to Ann Arbor as I evaluate Michigan for grad school!

After graduating from UChicago in 2010 with a degree in biology, I worked a corporate job in NYC for 8 years,where I was providing advisory and research for IT executives of massive global enterprises. When I left that world in 2019, I was convinced of the extremely problematic culture and anti-humanistic structures that permeated that system. I got into mutual aid work during the pandemic and grew so excited about community organizing and direct action.

In November 2020 I left NYC for "vanlife" to experience the diversity of perspectives, lifestyles, and locations that the US has to offer. I've visited friends and family, volunteered on farms, advanced my meditation practice, and explored the natural world.

Now as I head to grad school, I hope to bring social work values, methods, radical thought, and activism to corporate America. I'd like to work with business executives and challenge them to interrogate the central tenets of modern society/economy, analyze their own complicity in systems of oppression, and hopefully work toward making the private sector a more all-around humane place.

I'm politically a leftist, having worked as a community organizer and now heading to social work school. But I'm also a pragmatist and will be going to business school! I love open-minded, curious, and kind people, and I consider myself the same.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think the best way to travel and experience any place is through the eyes and shoes of the great people who live there. Traveling isn't about checking things off a list. It's about having an experience. And as I travel more of the world, and I start returning to cities I've seen before, I am going to want to make new local friends, since I've already done the tourist stuff :)

I also believe in paying it forward when it comes to hosting. I'm not often able to host, but maybe sometimes.

Interests

Food, cooking, technology, politics, movies, humor, dancing, being around interesting people, going out

• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• politics
• technology
• movies
• traveling

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm an equal opportunity music consumer. I'm a big fan of Cake, Presidents of the USA, REM, Semisonic, all sorts of EDM, various hip hop, jazz, reggaeton, classical, blues, bluegrass, etc. That said, I wouldn't say I follow music the way some people do - I just know good music when I hear it, and I love listening to the good stuff! I don't often go to rock concerts because I feel left out when everyone around me knows all the words. But I DO love going to live improvisational shows (jazz, jam bands, etc.).

Reading, I love reading magical realism (100 Years of Solitude, Murukami, etc.), but I also dabble in sci-fi, non-fiction, and other novels.

More recently I'm into liberatory books, like those by adrienne maree brown :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Carnival in Sitges, near Barcelona :)
Carnival in New Orleans :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm a really goofy and open person, and I love giving people positive vibes and making deep connections with people. I think I give great advice, and I provide a great critical perspective on people's issues. I love to help!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Panama, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, United States