“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” ― Mary Oliver
About
I was born on August 27, 1979, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and raised in Retreat—an unincorporated community near the Mississippi River, nestled in the tri-state region of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.
My childhood was shaped by the rhythms of the land: fishing and camping along the river, riding horses, working in tobacco fields, and exploring the natural world.
After graduating from De Soto High School in 1997, I headed to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. At Camp Randall Stadium, I cheered on the Wisconsin Badgers in the same place where my great-great-grandfather trained as a part of the Wisconsin 15th, an all-Scandinavian regiment in the Civil War.
I earned a B.S. in Human Ecology with a focus on Community Leadership, then spent a year and a half on the Mississippi Gulf Coast supporting post–Hurricane Katrina recovery—first as an AmeriCorps member in Biloxi, then as a team leader in Bay St. Louis.
In 2008, I returned to Madison, where I spent the next two decades working in public education and building a fulfilling life in the city.
The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with upheaval in the U.S., sparked a period of deep reflection, leading to a new path.
Welcome to Marla Goes North.