My name is Jamie Foode, and I am a senior at UAF. My degree program is Land and Resource Management through the Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development department. I have studied geography before through several means, mostly for backcountry travel and plotting courses for aircraft and fishing vessels. I’ve also used geo spatial recognition to relay imperative information to commercial and research fishing vessels during aerial surveys. I have a collection of nautical charts that I will NOT part with, since NOAA stopped publishing charts in 2014. This course is a requirement for my degree.

As per the Introductory Class Map, my place of birth is Cordova, Alaska. This is also my current residence. My destination vacation zone is Greece, because of the amazing natural beauty the country offers and the proximity to the sea. I suppose I’ve spent enough of my life trying to stay outta the drink on Alaskan fishing vessels surrounded by 55 degree Fahrenheit seas that a lovely, peaceful, warm beach somewhere sounds like pure, blissful heaven.

Hello, my names Kathleen Teets but I like to be called Kathy for short. I was born in Beaver Falls, PA and officially moved to Fairbanks, AK about a year ago. I wouldn't say I'm from one area in particular since I was a military brat for the entire first portion of my life. I decided move to Alaska after living here with my parents for almost six years. I have never taken a class on geography but have always been interested in the topic. This actually isn't entirely needed for my degree either and I'm mainly taking this out of curiosity and for fun. I hope to learn something I haven't learned already and hope to have fun with this class.

The three places on the class map:

1. Beaver Falls, PA (Birthplace)
2.  Fairbanks, AK (Current residence)
3.  Masai Mara, Kenya Africa (Where I want to visit)

Hello, I'm Zeke (Ezekiel) Schnabel, a first year Political Science and History major at UAF. I've always been interested in maps and geography (my room back home is covered in fictional maps I used to draw, and so this class seemed like something that would be really interesting. I've never really studied geography before (or at least since grade school), so this should really help provide some context to what I'm learning elsewhere in my studies. While not a hard requirement for my degree, I felt that this information was absolutely necessary to expanding my understanding of history.

A little about me: I was born in Iowa City, Iowa,   but now live in College, Alaska. I've been hoping to visit Schnabelburgh Castle, outside of Zurich, Switzerland, because my brother and I used to joke that it was "our birthright as Schnabels".

Hello, my name is Samantha Sinks. I am from western Washington State. I moved to Alaska a little over 3 years ago after visiting the Kenai peninsula a few times after high school. I love the area down there however I chose to move to Fairbanks because it was somewhere I had never been but heard so much about the interior of Alaska I wanted to venture out of my comfort zone and start fresh. I took the risk, packed up my suburban with my two dogs and cat and made the 3,000 mile journey through Canada onward to Alaska, living out of my truck for three months, taking my time and enjoying the journey. I arrived in Fairbanks late summer not sure if this would become my home or if I would venture somewhere else. I explored the area and shortly after decided to stay and I have not once regretted that choice. Now I am happily engaged and getting married this summer with the love of my life who I met here as well, and he did almost the exact thing I did but coming from the east coast instead. I have a great job where I manage a busy restaurant and have recently just moved from a small cabin to a nice large house where are dogs can run around in our wonderful backyard about 20 miles from town. I have not studied geography before, however I have taken this class before When I first moved here but was unable to finish the class due to being a victim of domestic violence with my first partner here in Alaska. This course is not a requirement of my degree (Wildlife Biology), however I was very interested in this class and still am and would like to actually complete it this time. Thank you for taking the time to read my long introduction and I look forward to learning more about the geography of our planet throughout this course!

I was born in Shelton, WA. Currently reside in Moose Creek Alaska, and would love to visit Oslo Norway.

hello class!

          My name is Yulissa Medina, I am currently a sophomore. My major is psychology and my minor is in English, I need to take this class because it is one of my electives that I am required to take. I have studied geography before in high school so I am kinda nervous to see how this goes.   I know this is going to be a great semester and I'm excited to learn lots of new and interesting things.

Hi there! My name is Seth Bubke. I am originally from Kaycee, Wyoming, however, I decided to come to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to pursue a degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The last I recall of any geography classes was either my middle school years or freshman year of high school. I am taking this course as it is a requirement for my degree. I was born in Sioux City, Iowa (home of Palmer Candy; they make Twin Bings). After my freshman year of high school, I moved to Kaycee, Wyoming (home of Chris LeDoux) where I spent the remaining years of high school and where I live when I'm not in school. I think the neatest place I'd like to visit and what I put on the map is Blue Lagoon in Iceland. I think that'd be super cool and flights aren't too expensive so I might have to make that a reality!

I look forward to connecting with you all during this semester!

Hello. My name is Karson Martinez. Originally from Florida, I reside in Fairbanks, Alaska with my husband and step-daughter. What brought us here, was what brings most people here. The Army. We only have another year left, so for the mean time I have decided to finish my degree in Biology while being here. That is the reason I am taking this class, as it is a mandatory requirement.  The last time I studied Geography was back in Middle School. Where I am from, it is not a high school requirement to graduate nor was it in the curriculum.

The three places on the class map that I put were:

1.  Birthplace: Brandon, FL.
2.  Current Residence; Fort Wainwright, AK.
3.  Place I want to visit: Connecticut, USA

Hi everyone, my name is Nicholas Riley and I look forward to meeting you all this semester. I have lived in Palmer all my life and I plan to continue living here indefinitely. I'm studying for a Bachelor's in Elementary Education, and this is a required course, but I've never taken a geography course. I posted locations in Anchorage where I was technically born, where I live off of Palmer-Fishhook Rd. in Palmer, and Padova, Italy where I would go if I had the chance.

Hi, y'all! Lola here

My name is Paola but I'd rather go by Lola, since it's easier to pronounce 🙂 I decided to take this class because it sounded really interesting and fun to learn about GEOGRAPHY though it is required for GER credit for a degree in Elementary Education. I haven't specifically took a geography class in any of the schools that I have attended, but I do remember learning about geography in science class (high school). I'm currently enrolled in Bachelors of Arts program through UAF, which I'm looking forward to completing by the end of 2023!

Thanks for reading and looking forward to learning some cool stuff in this class!

Hi, I'm Julia Benedict. I've only really did as much geography as I had to because I'm really bad with maps don't trust any directions I give, I never really had a class focused on geography it's more of once a year I'd have to take the U.S states test. I'm currently aiming for a Digital Journalism major, and I might try to double or triple major by adding English and History majors in, so geography is a nice class to use as a general to see if I would like to continue taking geography classes.

I was born and raised in Colorado, born in Louisville, I was the only one of my ten siblings born there is they call it loserville. When I'm not in school I live in Thornton, Colorado my house is right on the border so some people consider it Brighton, Westminster, or Lafayette. The place I want to go to the most is St. Petersburg Russia, I love Russian history and I hope to go there for my year abroad.