Jimmy is a fellow Rotaractor and humored me by answering some questions so you can get to know him a little better and a little more about preparations for our trip.
Occupation: Commercial Lender at OakStar Bank in Springfield, MO
Hometown: Houston, MO
Family: I married my high school sweetheart, and so far it's just us. I have a twin sister who looks nothing like me and a younger brother.
Pets: My wife and I have a lab and Jack Russell.
What are your favorite things to do when you are not busy?
Where do you like to hang out?
I enjoy traveling with my wife to places that we have not
been before. My favorite thing to do would
have to be fishing the Ozark’s streams for small mouth bass. I think the most peaceful place in the world has
to be a long slow hole of water on an Ozark river right at day break. There is no place more relaxing to me.
I don't really have one spot that I tend to gravitate toward to hang out. If I had to answer, I would say my back yard.
Hobbies:
I like to do anything outdoors. Fish, hunt, scuba dive, garden, hike, golf, etc. My family has always said that I have too many hobbies, but I think I just have a passion for learning to do new things.
What are you most excited about this experience?
The thing that I am most excited about is the opportunity to
experience another culture on a deeper level than just visiting on
vacation. Very few of us ever have
chance to look at life through the eyes of another culture or people. We, or at least I, often forget that the way
we perceive life is totally different than people that don’t live under
circumstances similar to ours. I am sure
the trip will be eye opening in ways that I can’t yet comprehend.
Additionally, my life is very structured and routine, which certainly has both benefits and drawbacks. I look forward to putting that structure aside for a month and turning off the cell phones, emails, appointment book, etc. It will be enjoyable approaching each day with a degree of curiosity on what might lie ahead.
What are you least excited about this experience?
The fact that the GSE brochure says we should expect 6 hours
of sleep a night. I am a morning person
and I am typically asleep by 10:00.
Provided we have access to plenty of coffee, I should be fine…..I think. (KG note: I am NOT a morning person. This is going to be difficult).
How did you find out about the GSE?
Brad Bodenhausen, a local Rotarian, informed me of the
opportunity about a year ago. I have a
great interest in international trade due to my vocation and I think he thought
this opportunity might be a good fit for me.
How in the world did you convince your work to let you leave
for 4 weeks?
I was very fortunate in that someone approached the bank with the idea of me applying for the team due to my work with companies that take part in international commerce. My superiors actually came to me and asked if I wanted to go. I have had nothing but their wholehearted support from the beginning and I am very grateful for that.
I was very fortunate in that someone approached the bank with the idea of me applying for the team due to my work with companies that take part in international commerce. My superiors actually came to me and asked if I wanted to go. I have had nothing but their wholehearted support from the beginning and I am very grateful for that.
How are you preparing for the exchange?
- Trying to learn Spanish (key word…”trying”)
- Working on my portion of our presentation. I have learned a lot about Missouri that I did not know. For instance, I did not know that Missouri is one of the leading producers of lead in the entire world.
- Trying to figure out what I can take as gifts to give our hosts. This is proving to be much more difficult than I had expected. I want to take something that shows my gratitude and is unique to both me and Missouri, but I have yet to figure out what that is. (KG note: This is so much harder than I thought it would be! So if any of you have ideas, send them our way!)
- Attempting to work as far ahead in my job that I can so that my absence is felt as little as possible.
What book are you reading right now?
'Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco'
Do you have any bad habits?
Many... Hopefully they are ones that my GSE team members can overlook.
What are a couple of items on your bucketlist?
- Go to the Final Four
- Write a book.
- Float a river for 100 miles in one trip.
- Start at non-for-profit organization.
