I grew up in a very small town in central Texas, and I have lived on our family ranch for my entire life. I graduated high school with practically the same 80 people that I started kindergarten with, most of which had never left the state, much less the country. I showed heifer cattle while I was growing up, and I often found myself checking cows and making trips to the parts store with my granddad on the weekends. I came from a place as disinterested in the outside world as humanly possible, with the exception of my own grandparents.
My grandparents are members of Gideons International, an organization of Christians who place bibles all around the world. When I was in middle school, my granddad was heavily involved and became the coordinator of the international speakers who would be coming to Texas that summer. My granddad wasn't so good with technology, which meant my grandmother and I were also involved in coordinating the itineraries of these speakers. I traveled with my granddad to pick up many speakers, including a pair of which happened to be a Russian man and his translator, Sergei and Nicholas. The friendship that my family would form with Sergei continues today and is the spark that set my passion for Russia ablaze.
