Emily K. Duitsman

I love to cook (and eat).

I find chopping vegetables theraputic. I love putting my own spin on traditional recipes, scouring the web for new ingredients and ideas, and most of all; my new herb garden in my backyard.

I love to travel.

But who doesn't? I'm not talking about laying on a beach at a resort for two weeks, or being trapped on a cruise ship with 1,000 other Americans. I want to experience real lives of real people; I want to get to know the locals as a local. I have been fortunate enough to wander down 2,000 year old streets in Italy, hike mountains in Canada, zip line in Costa Rica, and visit the desolate beaches where wild horses run free in Puerto Rico. What's next? I can't be sure, but I've never been out West.

I am a total. Freakin'. Nerd.

And a natural introvert. I love my friends (and am lucky to have many), but sometimes I have to force myself to put a book down and have an actual conversation with someone. I am a lover of history, and can often be found looking up a random dilapidated building on Wikipedia to find out its origins. Wandering the Harold Washington Library at lunch is a favorite pastime of mine.

I love the Midwest.

Born in Ohio, raised in central Illinois, back to Ohio for college, and now call Chicago my home, I am a Midwestern girl through and through. My family has farmed the same land for over 100 years, and I spent summers as a kid running around the farm with my grandparents. I take an immense sense of pride in where I come from and my family's background. I'm very interested in our geneology (there's the nerd in me again), and love to hear stories from my grandma who has traced us back to the middle ages. But my favorite part about the Midwest? The people. No matter where you go (even downtown Chicago), you can always find a smile.

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

I studied marketing in college, but since graduation I have worked in IT at a solar energy company, worked in sales and event planning, and am currently working in administration for the Executive MBA Program at the University of Illinois. I'm pretty much all over the map, and have no idea where I want to end up. To me, the important thing is learning something new from every interaction I have, every single day.

Now you know me.