Biography: Jennifer Dens

For starters, I’ve always loved music, from singing my ABC’s at the top of my lungs when I was three, to taking piano lessons in 2 nd grade, to playing my oboe and saxophone now. I love being involved in symphonic, jazz, marching and pep bands and I’ve been in the pit band for a few musicals. Although I’m not an actor, I love the theater. I am a member of the technical crew in my school’s drama department and we have fun working with the lights and sound for the productions. I’m also in Mock Trial, where I am a lawyer, Knowledge Bowl, Art History Club and Key Club, my school’s service organization. This year, I went to the National Economics Challenge in New York City, where my team placed third. It’s really because of this experience that I’m interested in business.

Outside of school, I am in the Heartland Symphony Orchestra, and in church choir. I love hanging out with my friends and I love to travel. One of my favorite places that I’ve visited is Brazil. I went there in eighth grade to visit a foreign exchange student we’d hosted. The trip really opened my eyes to another culture and way of life. The house we stayed it was right on the village square and on Christmas Eve we opened the window to the warm Brazilian night air, and there were hundreds of people out on the square. There were tables in the streets and a band playing. Everyone was dancing and just having a good time. It seemed like almost the whole town was out there. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is something we would never do in Brainerd.” It would probably be too cold on Christmas Eve anyway. Part of why I’m looking forward to this mission is because I love traveling so much. While I’m on my travels, and pretty much all the time, I love taking pictures. I like to capture the world around me so that I can remember it forever. The only problem is when the computer I have my pictures on breaks. That’s not so good.

I believe it is important to learn about China because China is an up-and-coming nation. The economy is growing at a very fast pace and the Chinese people are becoming increasingly involved in the world. There are over a billion people in China and, clearly, that many people can have a very large impact and influence. It will be important to know about the country and its people so that we can better understand them and do business with them. Following this mission will help make China a reality for Minnesota students, because sometimes it is difficult to imagine a place so different from our own, and a people so different from ourselves.

This mission is important to me because I believe it will open my eyes to the Chinese culture and lifestyle, things I don’t currently know a whole lot about. I hope that Minnesota will be able to latch on to some of the great economic opportunities available in China today to better our state, and I hope to share what I learn with the people in my community. Overall, I’m just really excited about this trip and I hope I will walk away from this experience knowing more about China, international business, and perhaps more about myself.