Jenifer was born in Chicago and grew up in Iowa.

In college she majored in Spanish and education and in grad school she took literature and linguistics in Spanish. Her career in teaching began back in 1970! In 1985 she went to Mexico as a visiting professor for one year and ended up staying for almost 20 more.

In Mexico, she changed her career to become an international educator working in study abroad and international student services.

She worked at 3 Mexican and 7 US universities as a Spanish professor, an international adviser or both. She also spent 6 years as an educational adviser in the US embassy in Mexico City, helping young people gain admission and scholarships to study their undergraduate or graduate degrees.

What inspires me is that it is so important for people from different cultures to appreciate and understand one another.

I want to say public speaking. If you have seen any of the webinars I made in 2019 you are probably laughing right now. But I am really good at it if I don’t have to sit down and if there is no camera pointed at me! (I don’t like this part very much!)

I hate doing exercise.

I have lived in 18 different cities and visited more than 25 countries.

Favorite Hobby: Reading

Favorite Authors: Barbara Kingsolver, Wally Lamb, Jane Smiley, Salman Rushdie, Gabriel García Márquez, Juan Rulfo, Carlos Fuentes, Angeles Mastretta, Guadalupe Loaeza…. I could go on.

Favorite TV Show: Jeopardy

Favorite Foods: Real Belgian waffles, chocolate, chiles en nogada, and Dutch gevulde koeken (almond cookies).