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I first made a personal site for myself in 1998, long before anybody had any reason to look me up on the net.  I was just a while out of high school working my way in low-level jobs, and I still kept in touch with everybody.  I had a lot more time on my hands, so I decided to learn HTML one day and my little personal site was born.  I was very comfortable talking about myself and I didn't really care about my audience because I didn't expect to have one.  I figured that only my friends and a few stragglers would ever see it, so I had a lot of freedom in what I wrote.  The first time that someone got upset about something I'd casually written, however, I realized that some of my friends actually read my site regularly.  I started to think a bit more about what I posted but I still considered this site to be my own sandbox.

As I went back to school, worked, and got some degrees under my belt, I found I had a lot less time to work on my personal site.  More importantly, I had less of a desire to write here.  At first I wasn't sure why, but I've come to see that it's part of a larger trend in my life.  Instead of pouring out more words, with little direction, I have come back to this site to construct something with more coherence and function.  So if you want to know a bit more about me, I want to be able to give you a glimpse here.  I want to write a new kind of journal, in which I am more thoughtful and I can write about anything, not just myself.  I want to share my academic milestones, since my education has been very important to me.  I would also like to approach this not as a kind of closet, where I can throw things willy-nilly, but as a series of frames through which you can view me.  So I have swept away most of the old material and here we are.

But who am I?  My name is Patricia Willenborg.  I'm a native and resident of Southern California.  Some people tell me that it's rare to find natives down here, but I think they'd be surprised how many people stay near the places they were born, even in the modern world.  I'm here because I love the area, even with its problems.  I'm here because I'd like to give back to the communities that have sheltered me when I start teaching later this year.  Having grown up with a single mother, I continue to be frugal and I donate what I can throughout the year.  Since I had difficulties making friends when I was small, I treasure those I have now.  I continue to work in the area in which I had the greatest facility as a child, that of literature and writing.  I can't wait to complete my degree, which I intend to do by June of 2008.  It will be a relief and a source of pride for my boyfriend, family, and friends, and it will give me what I need to get into the classroom.  I've already had some good experiences teaching through the TA program at Cal State L.A. and I can't wait to get back to it.  

So now that I've introduced myself in a very small nutshell, I will direct your attention to the links at the top of the page.  They will take you to the various parts of this site and even bring you back here again, if you want.  Since I've started this site all over again, you'll forgive me if it's small and a bit sparse.  As I add things, I'll announce them on my Updates page.  If there are any problems or questions, please email me through the link at the bottom of each page.