CURRENT MISSION

to be here now.

ABOUT ME

Hey there!

Long story short-ish: My name is Shannon and I just finished my JD/MBA at the University of Illinois. I spent the last two summers in Alaska and thought I would wind up there after graduation. However, things change, life changes, and I just moved to Portland, Oregon. Why Portland? Well, I visited in February of 2013 (partly because almost all of my friends that had visited it said I would absolutely love it there) and fell in love with all Portland has to offer.

This summer will be spent studying for the bar exam, but I'm hoping to get back into being more involved in CS. I've hosted, surfed, and gone to pot lucks across the US and am hoping to find some rad CSers in Portland.

I've had the amazing opportunity to travel pretty extensively (although I haven't done much in recent years thanks to grad school). I've been to six continents (Asia is my last one and I'm hoping to get it done by 2014). I absolutely love meeting new people and exploring new places and am completely stoked that Portland will be able to help me out with both of these passions.

As for what I'm into...I'm into basically all things outdoors. I'm a swimmer by nature, a frustrated golfer, and I'm training for a mini-tri. The next step is to pick one of the many sprint triathlons in Portland and just go for it. :] On that note, if you're a runner, biker, and/or swimmer and you live in Portland, I'm totally going to be looking for a training buddy. :]

I'm up for any sort of spontaneous adventure. I enjoy jumping out of planes, backpacking, and rappelling down waterfalls (got to do that in Costa Rica and it was a trip). I'll try just about anything once, so if you are seeking someone to go on an adventure with, I'm mostly likely totally down.

PHILOSOPHY

Work hard, play hard[er]. Just make sure than when you are working, it's for or towards something you truly want. I find that when you don't enjoy what you're doing, there's not much of a point to it.

The past is just the past. We must neither discard nor disregard it. - Mitch Albom.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host. I surf. I give hugs. My first time hosting involved all of us playing in a broken fire hydrant. It was pretty fabulous.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've done it all and can't wait to host and travel more. I've never surfed overseas, but that will happen at some point, I am sure.

Interests

I rather enjoy: bungee jumping, sky diving, white water rafting, SCUBA diving, skiing and basically anything that will make my heart beat just a little bit faster. However, I also enjoy my downtime, whether it's in a hammock on a beach or curled up in front of a fire.

I listen to: a lot of stuff, ranging from the beatles to rise against to daft punk to the barenaked ladies.

• cooking
• sprinting
• traveling
• piano
• outdoor activities
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• bungee jumping
• skiing
• swimming
• golf
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

I watch: a lot of stuff, ranging from...in bruges to the goonies to the princess bride to grandma's boy to snatch to breakfast at tiffany's.

I listen to: a lot of stuff, ranging from classical music to the beatles to fun. to rise against to daft punk to the barenaked ladies.

I read. Yay. A few favorites are Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) and Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs (Chuck Klosterman). You can also find me with some good cheap mysteries.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've seen Antarctica. Pretty, pretty, pretty awesome. I've also gone sky diving (I skydove?) over the great barrier reef in Australia. Also pretty awesome. Both are probably the most amazing views I have seen to date.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would LOVE to improve my Spanish. Any takers? I also LOVE to cook. Seriously, LOVE to cook. I've also played piano basically my entire life, so if anyone has a piano, but no idea how to play it, I'm more than willing to teach you.

Countries I’ve Visited

Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lesotho, Netherlands, Poland, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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