Hometown:Has lived in many different countries; family currently resides in Nairobi, Kenya
Majors:Double major in Conservation Biology and French
Activities: French Club, International House, Intern for Language Resource Center, member of a Middle Eastern Dance Troupe.

Jessica was initially attracted to St. Lawrence by its emphasis on the natural sciences, and the impressive study abroad programs that the school offers. She had taken French throughout middle school while living abroad, and continued it in high school in New York. She was always interested in learning and experiencing new and diverse cultures, and found the diversity at St. Lawrence very unique.

Jessica speaks French, understands basic Portuguese, and very elementary Kiswahili, but her love of languages does not stop there. Her ambitions include learning Arabic and conversational Farsi, as well as German and Italian. She spent the summer of 2007 with the ISEP program in Chambéry, France, and the early part of the summer of 2008 with the St. Lawrence program in Senegal where she worked with tortoises. She spent the rest of her ’08 summer volunteering at a local sea turtle watch in Kenya. She hopes to go abroad with ISEP again, for spring 2009, to La Réunion.

The time Jessica spent volunteering in both Senegal and Kenya has helped her to acquire a greater understanding of how conservation works in the field, and has helped her narrow down her interests to marine conservation. Jessica has also worked for a semester as a First Year Program writing mentor, for her former FYP. She was able to hone in her own writing skills while helping the new students with theirs. She has worked at the Language Resource Center in Carnegie since fall 2007, first as a classroom manager and currently as an office manager. Both positions have helped her develop new technological skills, as well as communication skills when working with professors and her co-workers. She is currently in her second year of living in the International House, which she finds to be the most diverse and interesting building on campus. She is able to connect with students from all over the world, and is constantly adding countries to the list of places she must visit. Jessica speaks French, understands basic Portuguese, and very elementary Kiswahili, but her love of languages does not stop there. Her ambitions include learning Arabic and conversational Farsi, as well as German and Italian. She spent the summer of 2007 with the ISEP program in Chambéry, France, and the early part of the summer of 2008 with the St. Lawrence program in Senegal where she worked with tortoises. She spent the rest of her ’08 summer volunteering at a local sea turtle watch in Kenya. She hopes to go abroad with ISEP again, for spring 2009, to La Réunion.

The time Jessica spent volunteering in both Senegal and Kenya has helped her to acquire a greater understanding of how conservation works in the field, and has helped her narrow down her interests to marine conservation. Jessica has also worked for a semester as a First Year Program writing mentor, for her former FYP. She was able to hone in her own writing skills while helping the new students with theirs. She has worked at the Language Resource Center in Carnegie since fall 2007, first as a classroom manager and currently as an office manager. Both positions have helped her develop new technological skills, as well as communication skills when working with professors and her co-workers. She is currently in her second year of living in the International House, which she finds to be the most diverse and interesting building on campus. She is able to connect with students from all over the world, and is constantly adding countries to the list of places she must visit.