¿Quién es Profe?
High School Education:
I graduated in 1984 from Grand Rapids Creston where I participated in Football, Wrestling, Track and Baseball. Wrestling was my favorite where I had a lot of success. I started wrestling in 1973 as an 8 year-old. My favorite teachers were Mr. Dressel, who taught Speed Reading and Mr. Carnevale, who taught Honors English and served as my inspiration to study abroad. In addition to my mother and father, some others who made a huge impact in my life are Ron Fuller, Jaime Hosford and Randy Vanderveen who all served as coaches during my formative years. They taught me that anything worth while demands hard work and commitment.
College Education:
I decided to attend Grand Rapids Junior College with aspirations of wrestling at the college level and to pursue an education in graphic design, but plans changed, as they always do. I stopped wrestling due to the time commitment and began to concentrate on academics.
After graduating from GRJC in 1986, I made a life-changing decision to study abroad in Seville, Spain despite not knowing any Spanish. My host family and professors were really special, and while in Seville, I fell in love with Spain, its culture, and the Spanish language. My experience in Seville was unforgettable due to not only breathing in the language, history, culture and mystical air of Seville but also because of traveling around Europe and visiting 8 countries.
In 1987, I started my education at MSU as a third generation Spartan. We are proud to have 14 family members have graduated from MSU beginning with my grandfather in 1935. I had a wonderful experience there having received a world-class education. I even attended lectures given by renowned Spanish author Carmen Laforet and civil rights leader, César Chávez, who I met.
While at State, I participated in two more overseas programs. The first one took place during the spring of 1989 in a city called Cáceres, which was a city of about 70,000 people at the time. I lived with the Bernardo Pozas family about 3 km. outside of town. They made me feel like I was part for their home and I still keep in touch with them to this day. While studying and improving my Spanish in Cáceres, I traveled all over visiting Toledo, Segovia, Sevilla, Trujillo, and Madrid, among other cities. I attended bull fights, participated in a number of festivals and learned to cook a number of regional dishes. I also traveled through Portugal and North Africa.
My third study abroad took me to the Dominican Republic in 1990. I lived in a historical town called Santiago de los Caballeros which is located in the northern third of the country. I lived with a professor of mathematics at the university and his family. They were really good to me and taught me a lot about the DR. I traveled extensively throughout the island and visited the towns of Puerto Plata, Sosúa, La Vega, Montecristi, and the capital, Santo Domingo. A number of Michigan State students landed a part in the movie Havana, which was being filmed in Sto. Domingo. A few buddies and I played American Sailors (how fitting, ¿no?), even getting a free military styled haircut. After filming one day, I met Raul Julia and spoke Spanish with him while we were on the set. He gave me his cigar, which I still have today. Carnaval in La Vega and Santiago was an absolute blast! I had never experienced a festival like this in the past. The Dominicans are among the nicest and most interesting people I have ever met!
Post College:
After graduating from MSU in March of 1991, I began teaching at Spring Lake in the fall where I planted the seeds the Spanish program that we have today. I returned to Spain for the entire summer of 1992 where I attended the Sevilla Expo ´92, the summer Olympics and ran with the bulls in Pamplona.
I married a Spring Lake girl named Karel Klouw, in 1994 and we honeymooned in Spain fin July of ´94. We have two daughters named Elena and Alex who never cease to amaze me with who they are becoming. They are wonderful young ladies who love soccer, ballet, reading, travel and spending endless hours on the beach.
In 2005, I picked up cycling to improve my health after seeing my father fall in love with the sport. I am absolutely addicted. I try and ride about 80-120 miles a week during the school year and average about 150-200 miles a week in the summer. I participated in the 60 mile Coast Guard tour in August and my goal is to ride the RAGBRAI some day. I love my bike.
Student Trips Abroad:
The first student trip that took place was a three-week trip to Spain in 1996. 30 students and two teachers spent 10 days in Salamanca where students lived with families and attended university classes at Universidad de Salamanca, the second oldest university in Europe. Then we toured around Spain seeing Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Caceres, and Sevilla.
The next student trip took place in 1999 and we took 40 students to Madrid, El Escorial, Toledo, Segovia, Sevilla, Granada, and Benalmádena.
In 2007, I traveled to Costa Rica with a group of 34 students and 4 teachers. We toured Costa Rica and visited the capital, Arenal volcano, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio National Park. We also spent a week residing with host families in the village of Santa María de Dota. These trip were ¨life'changing¨according to all those involved.
Most of the students either particiated on a study abroad program while in college, or are excited to do so, once they are in college.
Presently, I am planning a few trips. I am trying to through together a last-minute 10 day trip to Spain for selected seniors for June of '09. In the Spring, the Spanish department will begin to plan a trip to either Spain or Chile/Argentina for the summer of '10. Those students who would like to participate need to remain in the Spanish program and must have completed at least four terms on Spanish.
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