VP Team Bios - mangofandango

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

Recently, many of you requested bios of the VP Team Members, and since we aim to please - well, here we are! We hope it will give you a chance to get to know us better as Actual Human Beings. :) We'd also like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to introduce themselves at the big ol' introduction post. For more team bios, stay tuned - and check out the tag for more!

So. Hi! I'm mangofandango, your friendly neighborhood VP Team member, a.k.a. Sarah.



I'm 24, and I'm a graduate student. I'll be graduating with a Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) in May, granted I get through comprehesive exams. ;) I worked in the library as a teenager and just loved it so much that I knew I wanted to go on to "library school". I love getting people the information they need, teaching them to be better users of information, and of course, I love books (and media in general, really!) Anyway, the plan is to become a school library media specialist - a school librarian, to most of you. I'm not sure if I prefer elementary, middle, or high school yet, but I'm currently going through my practicum - basically, student teaching/professional field experience - and that's helping me get a better idea of what actually doing this job will be like. Either way, I can say that I love library work and I think I will love teaching once I get a bit more comfortable. The experiences I've had so far have been really fun and challenging. I think teenagers are awesome and I love their reading materials (I read young adult books all the time - lots of them are really amazing!), but I also really like little kids, and picture books can be pretty awesome too. I've finished the high school portion of my practicum and next week, I start at the elementary school. Wish me luck!

Backing up a bit...I was born in upstate New York (at home, btw!) and grew up there, then moved away for school. My family is still there and I go back to visit fairly often. I have 2 sisters (21 and 16) and 1 brother (19), and I'm the oldest. I'm married to [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], who grew up where I grew up. We went to elementary school together and our families ended up in the same homeschooling network later on, which is how we came to be friends (when I was about 13 and he was about 15). So we've known each other for a long time, and he really is my best friend. :)

I suppose, since I mentioned it, that a lot of you would be curious about the whole "homeschooling" thing! I was homschooled by my mother from 5th grade through when I was 16 or so and started taking classes at the local community college. I have some mixed feelings about my experience (most of the negative stuff related to its impact on my family, since I don't think my mother was actually very happy during that time), but generally I'd say it was a positive thing for me, and that it allowed me to learn more flexibly, thoroughly, and independently. My family was involved in a homeschooling support network of about 40 families, so I had a lot of friends growing up of all different ages. And yes, I even went to the prom - with my female friend who still went to public school. :)

Spare time! I don't really have a lot of "spare time", but I spend a lot of time pretending I do. :) I am a Livejournal junkie and I spend a lot of time on the internet in general. I love to read and try to do that as much as I can. I can hardly even name favorite authors because I like so many things, but I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan, and I like a *lot* of young adult stuff. I watch a lot of TV, too. I'm often stressed and distracted, and getting involved in other people's stories and problems helps me relax. I love stories in any form, TV is just a conveniently visual, serialized way to get into that. :) Some of my favorites? I'm a Joss Whedon devotee and love all things Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. I'm also a fan of Veronica Mars, Arrested Development (*sniff*), Gilmore Girls, and Scrubs. Music is also a big thing for me. I'm a huge Tori Amos fan, but that's just an example - I'm one of those "wide-range of tastes" people when it comes to music. When I'm not hooked up to some kind of media (and often when I am), I just enjoy hanging out with Ryan, and our two parrots, Petrie and Pico. I also enjoy (digital) photography, and I even paint on occassion.

As for the VP stuff...I love it here! I've been a member for...gosh, I'm not sure now. Three years, I think? I've learned so much here, and grown a lot as a woman and a feminist. I've come so far in terms of being comfortable with my body and with sex, and VP got me through several struggles with that - birth control issues, pain during sex, my first vaginal infections, etc. I came here for the first time a confused ex-Catholic with some shame issues and very little real knowledge about How These Things Work. VP has helped me grow up, really, and become a sexually healthy, happy person. Now I'm really enjoying helping to bring that same comfort and knowledge to thousands of VP members every day. I like knowing I'm helping to spread the revolution! Maintaining vaginapagina is hard work sometimes, for all of us on the team - but it's extremely fulfilling, and I know I speak for all of us when I say I really, truly love this community.

If there's anything else you want to know, or you have questions about anything I've written, feel free to ask. Thanks for reading, and look for the next bio from our team soon!

Viva la vulva!

Comments

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

Do you know Glens Falls? That area. If not, think half an hour or so north of Saratoga Springs, or half an hour or so south of Lake George. Or an hour north of Albany. People usually recognize at least one of those. :)

[ladyleo.livejournal.com]

Glens Falls is a cool area. I grew up in Syracuse and Camillus and went to school in Oswego.

I also performed in Albany while in high school:D

very cool!