Valerie M

Lucky is how I would describe my life. I’m Valerie Mielziner, a Graphic Design student at William Woods University and good fortune has certainly played a part in bringing me here.

I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and lived in an orphanage until age 3 1/2, when my amazing parents, Jim and Charlotte adopted me and brought me to the US. I have been living in St.Charles, Missouri now and loving it.

I have been playing sports all my life. I grew up competing in gymnastics, working out 20 hours a week for 11 years. As a result, I was a State Champ on the uneven parallel bars and runner up in the all-around in 2005. I wanted to expand my horizon and picked up the game of golf with my father. I was hooked from day one. After a successful four years of competing in high school, I received a golf scholarship at WWU.

Rounding out my experiences, I started working part time at Charlotte Russe and really enjoy it. It’s given me a whole new appreciation of how much we use and are influenced by design.