“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” ― Mary Oliver

I was born on August 27, 1979, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and raised in Retreat, an unincorporated community near the Mississippi River in the tri-state region of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.

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My childhood followed the rhythms of the land: fishing and camping along the river, building snow forts, riding horses, working in tobacco fields, and exploring the natural world.

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After graduating from De Soto High School in 1997, I attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning a B.S. in Human Ecology with a focus on Community Leadership.

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After college, I spent a year and a half on the Mississippi Gulf Coast supporting post–Hurricane Katrina recovery, first as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Biloxi and then as a team leader in Bay St. Louis.

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In 2008, I returned to Wisconsin, where I began working in public education and building a fulfilling life in Madison.

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The COVID-19 pandemic, paired with upheaval in the U.S., sparked a period of deep reflection that set me on a new path.

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Welcome to Marla Goes North.​