My name is Elizabeth, but everyone calls me Beth. My mom and dad called me Elizabeth, until I was two and I announced my new name. I've been Beth ever since.
      I was born in Rochester Minnesota on March 15, 1986. My mom, dad, older brother Brain, and I lived there for four years, until my little sister, Katy, was born. Then we moved to a new home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Brian is two years older than I am, and Katy is four years younger. My dad taught Cell biology and Biology 101 at University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. My mom was a librarian in Rochester, but when we moved to Eau Claire she worked with the American Cancer Society. I went to Manz Elementary School. My dad died when I was eight. I was in third grade. I attended South Middle School for a year then switched to the private Regis Middle School. It was an interesting experience, especially because it was a Catholic School, and I am Methodist.
      My mom met Steve online. Steve is an executive accountant for 3M. They could really commiserate with each other because both of them lost their spouses to cancer, and they both had children. Steve had two sons: Chris and Steven. At the time Chris, the younger of the two, was in College. Mom and Steve were married in October my eighth grade year. I met Steven at the wedding. He had just gotten leave from fighting in Korea. He is a sniper for the army. Now he is in Kosovo. Chris is married and has a kid, and Brian is going to the University of Wisconsin River Falls and dating a nice girl that goes to St. Olaf. Time really flies. I'm a senior in High School, and I feel as if I have only begun. I am still looking for a University to attend that could encompass all of the things I might want to do with my life. I have so many hobbies it is hard to choose.
      One of my hobbies is fiddling with foreign languages. I find it fascinating to investigate how languages are constructed. It all started with learning English grammar. I am one of the oddballs that like grammar. In middle school I had an excellent English teacher who drilled us with prepositional phrases, compound-complex sentences, and quite a bit more than subjects and verbs. Now I have expanded a tad from English. I dabble a bit with Korean, Quenya (Tolkein's Elvish), and have been studying Japanese. I first encountered Korean when I joined Tae Kwon Do, a Korean martial art for hand and foot self-defense. Our teachers speak in Korean to give us commands, to count to ten, and to start and end class. Incidentally my first brush with linguistics was when we had a counting contest in Tae Kwon Do. We tried to see who could count to ten in the most languages. I remembered from Sesame Street how to count in Spanish, and I remembered how to count in German from an exploratory class in middle school. I had just started Japanese, and had just learned how to count to ten. I tried my luck with French, but only reached five. I lost to Nate, who could count to ten in seven languages successfully. My second brush with linguistics was almost a year later. I read J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. After reading his short biography in the back, and a brief trip to the dictionary, I learned the word "linguist." I was taken with the idea, and did a little research. I was awestruck when I found out he created a complete fictional language. I started to research Quenya, and I am still in the process of teaching it to myself.
      Japanese is the foreign language that I have worked with the longest. This year I am in Japanese V. I took Japanese my freshman year to fulfill the general requirements for college. I became hooked on Japanese the first day of the class. We all sat down in our seats, chatting quietly when our teacher, Dougherty Sensei, walked in speaking only Japanese. We frantically checked our schedules, thinking that we were in the wrong class, but they all said Japanese 1.
      Since that first day, I have come a long way into the language, and continued to enroll in Japanese every year. The summer between my sophomore and junior years, I attended Mori No Ike, a total immersion Japanese language camp run by Concordia College. Last summer I taught English in Japan with U.S.A. Summer Camp. Performing skits with my campers was my favorite activity. We would write and direct skits from the camper's favorite English movies or books. My campers and I made a few props and hats from construction paper to add to the story, then they performed the skits for other campers. It was an activity almost everyone enjoyed. For me it was especially enjoyable because it combined two of my favorite worlds: Japan and theater.
      My interest in theater has led me into various jobs. Between our school plays and the local community theater, I have done everything from performance, light, sound, run crew, costumes, publicity, to gofer. My favorite aspect of theater is costuming. My first taste of costuming was in the summer of my freshman year, when I attended my very first Renaissance fair. I was transfixed by the Elizabethan gowns that the nobility wore, so I decided to make one. It did not matter that I did not know how to sew. I purchased a pattern, then researched the era. That was a mistake I will not make again. I promptly ignored the historically inaccurate pattern, and followed a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, from her teen years. I followed by own path. Sewing my first Elizabethan gown started a whole new hobby, mainly because no one told me that I could not do it. To date I have costumed for Much Ado About Nothing, Hello Dolly, The Crucible, Tom Jones, and A Lady Cries Murder. Each has brought it's own specific troubles, but also lots of fun. Sewing historical costumes is one of my favorite hobbies.
      Historical costuming has led me to another hobby. I embroider. I am not very good at it, but I enjoy it nonetheless. My sister and I pick out a movie that we have seen a billion times and I pick up my needle and floss. I generally count time on embroidery by how many movies it took me to finish it.
      Another related hobby is ethnic costumes. Although I have not made very many costumes from around the world, I love studying them. The large range of designs and colors captivate me. One specific favorite of mine to study is the Kimono. There are so many things that can be "read" from a kimono. I love the simplicity of design, and the idea that how one wears clothes is just as important as what he or she is wearing.
      I have added braid to various costumes before, but I prefer braiding hair. I learned to French braid from my Grandma. She used to always braid her daughter's hair. I enjoy learning new ways to style the braids. I like the idea of using the same variations of braiding, but receiving an entirely different look.
      Music is another art that I love. I sing soprano with our chamber choir and play piccolo and flute with our wind ensemble. My favorite music is classical and Broadway. My favorite composer is Mozart. I like the continual bounciness and drive through his pieces. My favorite musical song is "Lilly's Eyes" from The Secret Garden. The cords are absolutely insane.
      I started to read later than most, in fourth grade, but I now devour books at a rapid pace. My favorite author is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I like the stories of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. I remember when my mom explained why Sherlock Holmes was probably named that. I hadn't even thought of "Sure Lock Homes." It now makes sense to me that a detective would want everyone to lock his or her home. Fitting names are not easy to come up with, and now "Sherlock Holmes" is known so well that few ponder the possible meaning behind it.
      I also love to write stories of my own. They are generally not very good, but I enjoy writing them. My favorite genre if Fantasy Fiction. Sometimes I write in a notebook, but generally I type my stories. The longest story I have ever written was sixty-four pages long. It needs editing.
      While I'm typing, I generally play with one of our guinea pigs. They are both girls, and their names are Pheo and Marya. They are rather hyper usually. They are always very cute, even though they sometimes bite. Marya is the most active one of the two. This is fitting considering that she is Katy's. Pheo is more mellow, but quite the scaredy cat. She is mine.
      Once we tried to play cards while holding the guinea pigs, but they only tried to eat the cards. I learned to play cards from an early age. I started with Go Fish and War, but then we started Poker and Hearts. I play various types of solitaire, but my favorite is Spider. My favorite two-person game is Spit. It is a fast paced game. I think the most interesting game I have ever played was Hanafuda. We played it in Japanese class, and it was a lot of fun. My favorite game is Spoons when I play with the Estervig side of the family. We have been known to break tables in our fun.
      My memory is filled with strange and wonderful memories of my family, and I love them dearly. They are always supportive. Through thick and thin, they have always been there. Unconditional love is amazing. Family is family, through death, destruction, birth, and charity. They are the one certainty in a constantly changing world. My family has always been a part of my life, and always will be.
      I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life, but I am not overly concerned. The question of the century seems to be, "What are you doing next year?" I almost enjoy smiling, shaking my head, and saying, "I have no idea." The looks I have gotten have been priceless. I have too many hobbies, ideas, and interests to make a definite decision, just yet. Going to college is my first step, but where too? I don't know for certain, though I have a few ideas. I will find something, or multiple things to do for work, I'm sure, but until then I'll continue to play.