About the author

Laura Paige was born and raised in St. Louis, and is currently living in Ballwin. She went to UMSL and earned degrees in Anthropology (BA), History (BA), and Secondary Education-Social Studies (BS). She has been a teacher for 12 years; beginning as a student lecture for UMSL's Anthropology Labs; then becoming a K-12 district substitute teacher for Riverview Gardens; and later taking on a full time English/Civics position at the high school in the At-Risk Program. Laura's interests in Asian cultures were heightened during college, as she volunteered with various international student groups, primarily, the Malaysian students. She later joined such community organizations as The St. Louis Chinese (later named Asian) Junior Chamber of Commerce (JAYCEES), the Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL), the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), and the Coalition of Asian-Pacific Americans (CAPA). One of her dreams was to teach in Asia...and now she has and is glad to have done so!

If you have any questions or any topic suggestions for future articles, please feel free to email Laura Paige at paigesensei@aol.com.