Ever wonder how TV show hosts get their jobs? Ever wonder why someone would trek around the globe to learn more about animals? To give you a peek into why Rachel is the perfect Ms. Adventure, excerpts from her written application are below.
DESCRIBE YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY:
My father is a doctor, my mother is a minister. So if I ever got sick, I at least knew I'd be saved somehow. My parents met on the mission field in Nigeria, which is why they probably ended up together (slim pickins when nobody else speaks English). My father can be a total goofball. He is one of the top surgeons in the country, yet when I came home at Christmas he hid behind the TV and pretended the TV was talking to me. He still makes me "blow" on the windshield wipers to magically make them work (cute when I was 4 ... not so much now). He has awful taste and loves to embarrass the family as often as possible. He still wears the terrible fluorescent plaid suit he wore in a family photo in the '70s.
My mother is the first ordained woman in the Reformed Church who now writes books, leads seminars and workshops all over the country in "interfaith" dialogue (and dream interpretation). She no longer belongs to one faith; she is on a mission to bring
all faiths together. My mother also has interesting taste. She is a recently turned artist who paints people and figures all over her kitchen cupboards. She has a coffee table that is an aquarium, a chair made of bark, and icons and gongs all over the house. Combine that with my dad's lovely taste of mirrors on the ceiling, a huge treadmill in the middle of the living room (that he never uses) and a flat-screen TV above their waterbed, I'm thinking we won't be on an episode of
Cribs anytime soon. Somehow they have raised four semi-normal well-adjusted kids. I gotta give it to 'em; they did mission work and traveled the world with all of us before I was even 6.
My oldest brother John is married with kids in Chicago. He is a U. of M(ichigan) Freak. He shouts at the newspaper and the TV — we have yet to tell him those things can't hear. He is an amazing writer and a funny person. Thank god he got rid of the Willie Aims hair (from the '80s) and looks pretty good now.
My other brother Ron is married with kids and is out here in California, getting his doctorate at Fuller Seminary. The most intellectual person you will ever meet. He majored in philosophy and, oh, has never been wrong yet about anything. :) He is a musician, writer, composer, awesome dad, creative and very funny, but gets paid to be a minister in the Christian Reformed Church. Thank god his kids are close by, so I can take them under my wing every once in a while and de-geek them.
My sister is also an actress. She lives in Chicago. She received all the genes I didn't. She is completely organized, practical, always on time and she even crochets. She is a great balance for me. We both still share an obsession for Rick Springfield, which we may need to get counseling for. Rick, if you're reading this ... Call me!
My family is very close and we do cheesy things like play games and sing songs when we all get together. It's like
The Brady Bunch but without Alice.
Application Continued »
