W. Lloyd Williams, November 2011
In 1974 I bought a copy of the Barefoot Doctor’s Manual and it changed my life. After graduating I built an Investment Consulting Practice in Atlanta and the TCM diagnostic process became the foundati …
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Thomas Schieffer, October 2013
I am a clinical herbalist and holistic health consultant and have been part of the Goldthread team for the past four years. I started as a student of William Siff’s and transitioned to Goldthread’s op …
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Terrie Schultz, November 2010
I grew up in Sacramento, California. I’ve always loved nature, and spent most of my childhood outside, sitting in trees and reading. I lived for many years in the Bay Area, and now live with my husba …
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Suzanne Robertson, February 2011
I was born in Winnemucca, Nevada, to young parents. For many years I lived with my grandparents in a wonderful country home. My grandmother was a farm girl so she baked, canned, sewed, embroidered and …
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Suzana Corritori, January 2013
I am native of former Yugoslavia where herbal tradition has always been strong. Herbs were always part of my life, inseparably and tightly woven into the fabric of my family, traditions and customs. M …
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Stacie Satery, July 2021
My herbal journey began after the birth of my fourth child and a long episode of overlooked and undiagnosed postpartum depression. A homeschooling mama of four children, I desperately began seeking alternative health treatment so I could just make it through the day. At the time, the essential oil business was booming. I looked into…
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Sidney Barthell, April 2009
… Our Student of the Month for April 2009 is:… … Sidney Barthell … Sidney Barthell loves learning. Her strong suits are researching, writing, reading, interpreting, music, and ar …
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Sheri Hawn, March 2018
My name is Sheri Hawn and I am currently an Advanced Student here at East West. What a journey of learning and self-discovery this has been. I grew up in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and spent many hours, as a child, wandering the land, picking plants and flowers and “making medicine”, which I usually fed to the dog! I come from a line of healers and nature lovers; I am grateful to my elders for helping me to see beyond what eyes can see in both people and nature. …
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Shelley Swapp, July 2015
Growing up on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, UT (yep, I’m a Mormon) my family grew and preserved much of our own food and enjoyed the great outdoors. Outside of school I studied many types of dance …
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Shelby Heinzer, December 2018
This school has been such a transformative experience. My interest in alternative medicine started with my high school boyfriend’s mom of all places. With herbs, homeopathy, and so much love she helped me tackle health problems that Western medicine seemed to only make worse. That seemingly impossible success led me on an investigation in alternative…
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Sheila Devitt, February 2015
I’ve moved from East to West over the course of my life. I was born in Boston. My parents were involved in the home birth movement, and natural food co-ops. We followed my father’s career first to Chi …
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Shannon Hobson, April 2018
Where can I say my journey into East West began…. I wasn’t much into natural medicine growing up, but I have always loved nature. I didn’t become interested in natural medicine until I travelled to Vietnam many years later, where I, unfortunately, picked up something nasty. Upon my return to Australia (where I was living…
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Sarah Graham, July 2013
Even though I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and appreciate urban centers, I developed a deep respect for the natural world. This inspiration can be attributed mostly to spending time on m …
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Sarah Ford, January 2020
I am Sarah Ford Thompson. I began my love affair with plants and plant medicines as a young child. I spent my first few years on a self-sustaining farm in Kentucky with my family. We grew our own food and raised goats for milk. We traded goat milk and homemade goat cheese with the nearest…
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Sallie Dixon, September 2010
For my first nine years, I lived just outside Xenia, a small town in southwestern Ohio where my brother and I roamed freely through yards, pastures and weed fields with only our imaginations to entert …
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Sahni Hamilton, February 2014
My love of the natural world was instilled early by growing up in the beautiful and challenging environment of outback Australia. Being surrounded by people who were keen observers of plants, animals …
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Ryan Carnahan, April 2010
I have held a deep interest in natural healing for as long as I can recall. My grandfather was a chiropractor, and I remember receiving an adjustment from him at age 5. Perhaps that spurred the initia …
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Rosalee de la Forêt, March 2010
I began my plant kingdom journey seven years ago when I started studying primitive living skills with Earthwalk Northwest. Through the experience of exploring my relationship to the natural world arou …
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Roger Martin, October 2017
First of all, being an Earth Rat (Jan. 1949) and with Indian Summer approaching, I want to thank GOD for the harvest that I’m about to receive. Whether it be herbs, vegetables or just witnessing the F …
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Robert Woolf, September 2021
I was born and raised in Toronto Ontario, Canada. After completing a BSc and DDS at the University of Toronto, I moved west to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where I practised dentistry for several years. I then returned to school at the University of Saskatchewan and completed an MD and residency after which I became a full…
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Rich Kamasinski-Sol, June 2010
Growing up, I remember my parents frequently using herbs and traditional, European folk remedies. When I was about 5 years old, my mother had severe pneumonia and stayed in bed for a number of days. D …
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Rebecca Wong, September 2019
Ironically, though I grew up on a dairy farm, surrounded by crops, animals, and nature, I was never exposed to natural health or healing during all that time. Farmers are not necessarily naturalists, and my parents showed little interest in herbal medicine. I never even tried whole wheat bread until I was a teenager and…
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Raven Ioneh, August 2018
I am a Northern Californian, born in Oakland, California where I currently reside. I grew up in Berkeley, California, but also in the woods of the Pacific Northwest and on the rocky beaches of California’s northern coast. As a teenager, I developed a sense that people came to me with their injuries and ailments for…
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Raine Quinn, August 2021
I live in Perth, Western Australia with a loving husband, son and daughter-in-law, two labradors, two rabbits, two ducks and many visiting birds. Our wonderful daughter also lives in Perth. Keisha and Noxy, our beautiful labradors, are mother and daughter. Noxy is due to give birth next month. I am a registered home breeder and…
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Rachel Hull, December 2010
I grew up in Perth in Western Australia, where the countryside is very dry. As a child I did not feel connected to the earth there as I didn’t relate to it and it seemed very harsh. When I moved to th …
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Rachael Witt, May 2018
Hello! My name is Rachael Witt. I am a land-steward, herbalist, and teacher of ancestral skills. I grew up amidst the Oak woodlands in the foothills of the Sierras. As I explored the world around me, studying plant ecology and ethnobotany, opportunities led me to the small town of Duvall, Washington, where I am currently…
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Peggie Zih, December 2013
I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I went to college in Australia and lived there for eight years, earning my bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA. My career has been in I.T. thus far des …
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Patti Shimokawa, September 2013
I spent my early years in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. When I was 5, my family settled in State College, PA. That was a magical and formative place and time for me-we had a sandbox my dad made …
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Pat Ehlers, May 2010
I was raised in the San Francisco bay area and currently live in Grass Valley, Calif., north of Sacramento. My father was a hunter and fisherman. During my childhood, he inspired my love of animals. …
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Pascale Richalet, June 2019
Born and raised in France, I came to Boston with my family about twenty years ago to pursue a scientific education in biochemistry and biophysics. An avid Aikido student for many years, I have always been attracted to Eastern philosophies. While working my first science job, I took evening classes and earned a Zen Shiatsu…
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Panda Hershey, May 2021
I came to appreciate the power of herbs fairly late in life. After working as a postdoctoral researcher in cell biology for several years and then an institutional investor in private equity, venture capital and agriculture for nearly 2 decades, I found my calling as a healer. Through my Chinese medicine, acupressure and tui na…
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Pamela Shaw, October 2012
I grew up in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York and spent my summers outdoors (whether I was in the Adirondacks, at the pool or beach, at day camp playing in the lake or running around in the woods). …
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Pamela Gould and Linda Vaughan, May 2009
… For the month of May, we are honoring two students of the month: Pamela Gould and Linda Vaughan!… Pamela Gould Pam first became interested in alternative ways of maintaining good health w …
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October Student of the Month, Jennifer Rich
I grew up in Campbell, < Ohio with one sister and two loving, supportive parents. I was raised in a political family, and hold the elected office of precinct committee person and serve as presiding ju ...
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Nicole MacDonald, August 2011
My connection to plants began early in life when I started work in a flower shop. I learned floral design and managed different flower shops through high school and college. I was always excited for o …
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Nathan Shannon, June Graduate of the Month
My name is Nathan Shannon. I was born in Meeker, Colorado, which is in the northwest part of the state. I moved to central Wisconsin before I started school and lived there until I was 21 at which ti …
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Natalie Morrissey, November 2020
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and majored in Business Administration at the University of Hawaii because I felt it was a good foundation. I worked as an accountant in the construction industry for about 20 years and then in the airline industry for about 17. Sometime in 2015, I…
DetailsMorning Flash, June 2015
Hi! My name is Morning. I have lived in various places around the U.S., as well as elsewhere in the world. I have loved and enjoyed the people I have known, < and the richness of being able to experie ...
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Mojohito Richerson von Tchudi, October 2009
Congratulations to Mojohito Richerson von Tchudi, our October student of the month!… … A partially homogenous life as the son of progressive academic education philosophers, with its customa …
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Mo Horner, July 2010
I’m a city girl who was raised by a ‘health conscious’ mother and that was extent of my familiarity with alternative health care until 2003. A brush with breast cancer and some very impressive complim …
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Michelle Schurig, December 2014
I am not sure where my love of plants came from, but there is a familial connection. My mother was an avid gardener and I grew up in a home with hundreds of plants. My uncle is an amateur botanist. I …
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Michele Klassen, December 2015
In 1999, I graduated from California State University, Fresno, with a Degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Magna Cum Laude; and in 1994, from Fresno City College, CA, with a Degree of Associate …
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Michael McEvoy, April 2015
I’ve been in the nutritional consulting field for the past 8 years. Prior to that I was a full time yoga instructor. I am the founder of www.MetabolicHealing.com, where I’ve authored around 300 resear …
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Michael Longfield, July 2014
As a kid, I loved to play in the woods adjoining my suburban neighborhood. It was the home of a grandmother oak tree, in which my best friend and I built a two-story tree house. We would fantasize abo …
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Meret Giacomini, September 2009
… Meet our September student of the month: Meret Giacomini!… I spent most of my childhood in a mimosa tree day dreaming and imagining that the pink fiber optic tutu-like flowers were twirli …
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Meredith Flynn, October 2011
My path with plants began in York, PA, where as a child, I had the good fortune of being encouraged to, “go out and play” in the woods surrounding my house. I learned to love nature and had the opport …
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Melissa Fritts, November 2009
Meet our November student of the month, Melissa Fritts! As a child I spent my time in the woods and fields – ever exploring the natural world. I quickly also became fascinated with the inner worlds an …
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Melanie St. Ours, November 2012
I never planned to become an herbalist. Though I spent much of my childhood mashing up plants in my backyard (and unknowingly smearing poke on my little sister while pretending to make medicine… an …
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Megan Deely, September 2016
Hi! My name is Megan Deely. I am currently residing in the outskirts of good old Cleveland, Ohio. I’ve been here for ten years now and although I am only 24, I feel as if I have lived through quite a …
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Mark Shanagher, January 2019
I was lucky, though having been born in London, to have spent much time in Nature as a young boy. My mum who’s Polish also brought us up on natural foods and medicines at home and by the time I was a young student I was talking peoples ears off about natural being the best!…
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Mark Dieve, April 2011
My path towards herbalism began via a long and winding road as a small child in 1970s Ann Arbor, Michigan. This international-college-town microcosm of diversity, hope and idealism would form the root …
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Mara Ribbin and Holly Nielsen, June 2009
… Please enjoy the bios of our June students of the month: Mara Ribbin and Holly Nielsen!… Mara Ribbin My early love of the natural world was encouraged by my grandmother. She was so at hom …
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Maja Kruse, August 2013
I was lucky to grow up in a beautiful area just outside Copenhagen, near the sea and close to forests and parks. It feels like my interest in herbs and natural medicine have been with me my whole life …
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Liz Collins, April 2020
My name is Liz Collins. My first passion in the recognition of physical and spiritual health is the practice of yoga, with over 25 years of teaching and study. I was certified in the Iyengar tradition through the Center for Yoga of Seattle in 1997. In the past 14 years I have immersed myself in the Shadow…
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Laurel Paxton, October 2019
My name is Laurel Paxton, I grew up in the beautiful oceanic community of Santa Cruz, CA. I currently live in South Lake Tahoe, where I spend my days homeschooling my children and studying the healing arts. I love studying herbology from around the world and everything around me as much as possible! I have…
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Lani Nelson, September 2020
I grew up in the small town of Yuba City, CA. I spent most of my childhood helping do the inventory of my local health food store’s vitamin department. It was one of my favorite things to do as I learned about herbal remedies and all the crazy big names. I used that knowledge as…
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Kristin Henningsen, May 2014
I’ve felt a connection with plants for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until my first move to the Southwest that I began to integrate them into daily life. There I discovered how the native …
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Kristi Shapla, July 2011
I grew up exploring the inlets of South Florida. Swimming with river otters and manatee, diving for starfish, and trying to replant the mangroves kept me grounded in the natural world. This bond carri …
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Krista Edwards, June 2021
After graduating in 2002 with a degree in Physical Education and a certification through the American Council on Exercise, I set out with the ambition to try to make the world a healthier place as a personal trainer. It did not take me long to see that diet and exercise were not the silver bullet…
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Kevin Pennell, July 2009
… Congratulations to our student of the month for July: Kevin Pennell!… Kevin Pennell Saying Kevin has a varied background is an understatement! Having started a career in broadcasting at a …
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Kevin McNeeley, September 2011
I’m a home dad in Japan, but I grew up in northeast Ohio before the Internet age. I was the little kid who tried to revive baby birds that fell from their nests. It never worked, but I tried anyway. I …
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Ken Krantz, November 2015
I’ve lived in Tinmouth, Vermont, for the past 36 years amongst the hills, < fields, and trees. There’s such a diverse amount of plant material here that will keep me busy for a long time to come. My ...
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Katie MacKenzie, July Student of the Month
A good portion of my life’s journey was spent among the corn and bean fields of Illinois, but I’m a California native currently living in the Sierras immersed in the beautiful backwoods. I’ve always had a pull towards nature, where I feel most at home. I spend as much time as possible enjoying the elements…
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Kate Sinon, June 2014
My direct experience with herbs as medicine only began a few years ago. Even so, I believe that they were always there running a parallel path with me and, like little brain synapses, connections wer …
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Karley Martin, May 2017
I am originally from a small town in Calaveras county California, which is in the foothills and upward into the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains. I knew since I was a child that I wanted to live on …
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Karla Gervais, June 2011
I was born in Newport, Rhode Island. At age six, my family moved to the suburbs near Chicago where I resided until 1974. There, I met new friends who taught that healthy eating habits and taking care …
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Karen Wentlandt, July 2019
I currently live in Colorado with my husband. Our three boys are grown and finding their way in this world, just as we continue to find ours. I always believed my calling was to be writer. I pursued that calling as an undergraduate and graduate student. I wrote short stories. I worked on several books,…
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Karen Kimrey, August 2009
Congratulations to our student of the month for August: Karen Kimrey!… … Karen was born under a Cancer sky in mid-20th century America, the first child of nomadic parents, who finally found …
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Karen Darnell, August 2010
I was born Arvella Louise Harris in Richmond, Virginia, but was renamed after adoption. I live in Hubbard, Oregon, population 2800, halfway between Salem and Portland. I’ve been married to my husband, …
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K.C. “Fig” Ortega, April 2012
When I met my husband I had no concept of whole health or herbal medicine. I secretly questioned what had been presented to me as absolute truths… in medicine, politics, religion, etc…but never h …
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Julia Hennig, August 2015
Growing up in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, I have wonderful memories of time spent in the garden with my parents who harvested and preserved their own fruits and vegetables. We also kept beehiv …
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Jude Nicholson, August 2014
My great and late father, Paul, was a plant freak in his own right and gave to me my love of the natural and spiritual worlds. My mother tells me that I was conceived at Wind Cave National park in the …
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Joshua Samuelsen, December 2020
I grew up in London and then moved to Chico, California in my late teens. I studied International Communications at Chico State. During my Chico time, I also began my yoga journey, did my massage certification and other explored other modalities such Shiatsu and Reiki. I also worked for the weekly college paper, writing and…
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Joshua Laurenzi, January 2016
Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee didn’t allow for much exposure to things like herbalism, just the vestiges of southern folk medicine mixed with the health food store accounts of rare radicals like my …
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Joshua Kuhn, March 2019
My name is Josh Kuhn. I am an Ohio native and have for as long as I can remember felt a deep kinship with the natural world. Over the years I have worn many hats (bicycle builder, found object sculptor, mime) but have always come back to the land. In 2011 my wife Bix and…
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Joshua Farahnik, November 2013
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, and it was traveling abroad that really enlightened my life path and purpose. Six years ago I fulfilled a dream of traveling through India and this is where …
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Josh Williams, September 2015
I grew up just west of Salt Lake City, Utah, and have spent my life surrounded by protective mountains and four very dramatic seasons. Since I was a child I’ve been fascinated by the natural world, an …
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Jonah Ruh Roberts, January 2015
Finding myself in the place I am now, I feel so much gratitude to witness my life filling with herbs- building my apothecary, building my understanding, having a homestead to invite medicine plants to …
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John Roddy, July 2012
I’ve always loved the magic of Nature. It all began with growing up hiking and surfing the Northern California mountains and coastline. On most nights my dog, Turk, and I would head to the hills to se …
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Johanna-Maria Wagner, June 2012
Growing up in Austria, I was surrounded by herbs and, more importantly, people who knew how to use them. We never saw a doctor except for compulsory school check-ups; instead, we were treated naturall …
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Joe Granger, August 2017
My name is Joe Granger and I am a third-year student at East West. I am thankful to be acknowledged as student of the month amongst our network of talented healers. I found East West at a very inter …
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Joe Eckre, April 2013
My name is Joe Eckre. My friends call me Surya. When I was in the first grade, my father took an interest in nutrition and vitamins. He had problems with his energy level and his new diet and suppleme …
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Jodi Snyder, January 2009
… Welcome to 2009 and our Student of the Month for January: Jodi Snyder Jodi Snyder is a family generational herbalist. In her family, this art is passed from grandmother to granddaughter. In 198 …
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Jodi Martin, February 2019
Hi, my name is Jodi Martin. I have been a student with East West since 11/2013. I am from upstate New York but have been living on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii since 2011. I am a mother of three amazing daughters and most recently find myself with an empty nest. While living in…
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Jodi Horon, June 2013
I was born and raised in Olympia Washington, and lived in Seattle until 2009. I currently live in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with my husband, his two boys and our golden retriever. I …
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Jim Nymeyer, January 2014
My first exposure to herbs was soon after moving to Montana at age 12 when my mother came down with pneumonia. She took echinacea as part of her healing process, and so my young curiosity was struck. …
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Jillian Wisborg, July 2016
One of the main reasons I got into holistic health, and learning about herbal medicine, nutrition, iridology, self-empowerment, etc., is because I was upset that there has always been such a cloak of …
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Jill Barnattan, February 2013
I am a New Yorker of Mediterranean descent, convinced my herbal sorcery stems from my ancestry. I endured 2 major surgeries before the age of 8, leaving my inner spirit scarred and scared. My father t …
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Jerry and Nancy Angelini, March 2011
Jerry and Nancy Angelini are brother and sister students of the East West Herb Course. Jerry just became our new office manager at the East West Acupuncture Clinic, while his sister Nancy is the East …
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Jeremy O’Leary, June 2018
I’ve lived in Portland, Oregon for most of my life, with short stints in Minnesota, Montana and Idaho. The plan out of college was to work as botanist, but the Bush Administration happened, and after attempting to get work with something of the naturalist flavor, I figured it was best to separate my vocation from…
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Jennifer McDonnell, December 2019
My fondest childhood memories are making “magic potions” over pretend rock fire circles in the forests of the Green Mountains in VT and the Appalachians in New York, the woods I knew as my back yard. I’d rock hop barefoot, seeking the head of the stream to obtain water where it bubbled out of the earth.…
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Jennifer Breschini, June 2020
I grew up in Colorado where my family was very focused on gardening. This sparked my love of plants and gardening and wherever I’ve lived, I’ve had a garden, large or small. At my current home here in Indianapolis I’ve transformed most of my suburban yard into a paradise of vegetables, herbs, and fruits. After…
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Jenn Doucet, December 2016
I grew up in the boreal forest of northern Alberta, Canada. My love of the natural world was cultivated at a young age by numerous days of fishing,> camping, and foraging for berries and mushrooms in …
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Jenn Atkins, December 2009
Congratulations to our December student of the month, Jenn Atkins, CNC, LMT! My career as a holistic health practitioner formally began through my family business, Brazos Natural Foods, which opened …
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Jen Hyde, February 2020
Kia ora and greetings from the southern hemisphere! My name is Jen and I first started getting interested in herbalism working as a wilderness guide in the NC Appalachian mountains. As we hiked, my fellow guides would teach me the plants of the region and we would munch as we walked. We ate rock tripe and sourwood…
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Jen Ciccolella, September 2017
I have always been interested in food as medicine and started to explore herbs as a way of healing when my oldest dog was diagnosed with invertebral disc disease as well as a heart murmur at age 5. To …
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Jason Harler, February 2018
I grew up in various places along the coasts of California, the Pacific Northwest and up into Alaska in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. As a very young boy I was always most at home in these old forests, bea …
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Janet Tunjic, October 2020
I reside in the remote city of Perth, Western Australia with a beautiful son, husband and dog named Alby. Coming from Croatian ancestry my mother and aunties often resorted to folk medicine from their home land for all sorts of ailments as a child. This was my early introduction to healing through plants. My love…
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Jane Kuntz, March 2012
I grew up in the Yorkshire Dales of England. In my late teens I developed a love of travel – not surface travel, like a tourist, but a sinking into and admiration of other cultures. I did Peace Corps, …
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