My name is Laura Ristau and I am an elementary education major at the University of Missouri.
I am pretty excited about this semester because art is a huge part of my life. I crafted a lot as a kid and took art classes in high school and college. I have taken many ceramics classes and absolutely love working on the wheel. I also really love to paint, and last winter painted a mural on the wall of my bedroom at my parents house. Art has always been a really great way to keep me calm, entertained, and at peace.
I grew up with my mom, dad, and older brother, and family is a big part of my life. They all live in St. Louis and I love getting to go home and visit them. Speaking of family, my aunt, Cathy Olsen, took the picture shown above on this page!
I love movies (especially those with Ryan Gosling), and books. Some of my favorite books include the Harry Potter series, the Hunger Games series, The Secret Life of Bees, The Help, and The Last Song.
Another big part of my life is dance. I grew up dancing in studios taking tap, ballet, jazz, modern, and hip hop. In high school I was on the school's poms team, and just last semester I joined Mizzou's OFFICIAL Dance Crew, a hip hop team. Dance is so fun for me and I love that I still have the opportunity to do it.
Last, I am so excited to be a teacher! I have had teaching in the back of my mind since I was in elementary school, and pretty much solidified the decision in high school when I worked at a preschool summer camp for two summers and never felt like I was working. I was so happy to go to work every day I decided I didn't want to do anything else. Since then I have tutored elementary students for two years with A Way With Words and Numbers, had field experience helping out in classrooms through Mizzou's education program, and even got to aid kids with disabilities at a summer camp last summer, which was such a cool experience. I really can't imagine myself in any other profession and can't wait to be a source of encouragement and support for my own classroom one day soon.
I am pretty excited about this semester because art is a huge part of my life. I crafted a lot as a kid and took art classes in high school and college. I have taken many ceramics classes and absolutely love working on the wheel. I also really love to paint, and last winter painted a mural on the wall of my bedroom at my parents house. Art has always been a really great way to keep me calm, entertained, and at peace.
I grew up with my mom, dad, and older brother, and family is a big part of my life. They all live in St. Louis and I love getting to go home and visit them. Speaking of family, my aunt, Cathy Olsen, took the picture shown above on this page!
I love movies (especially those with Ryan Gosling), and books. Some of my favorite books include the Harry Potter series, the Hunger Games series, The Secret Life of Bees, The Help, and The Last Song.
Another big part of my life is dance. I grew up dancing in studios taking tap, ballet, jazz, modern, and hip hop. In high school I was on the school's poms team, and just last semester I joined Mizzou's OFFICIAL Dance Crew, a hip hop team. Dance is so fun for me and I love that I still have the opportunity to do it.
Last, I am so excited to be a teacher! I have had teaching in the back of my mind since I was in elementary school, and pretty much solidified the decision in high school when I worked at a preschool summer camp for two summers and never felt like I was working. I was so happy to go to work every day I decided I didn't want to do anything else. Since then I have tutored elementary students for two years with A Way With Words and Numbers, had field experience helping out in classrooms through Mizzou's education program, and even got to aid kids with disabilities at a summer camp last summer, which was such a cool experience. I really can't imagine myself in any other profession and can't wait to be a source of encouragement and support for my own classroom one day soon.