About the author
Michele Mattingly’s family relocated to California when she was 16 months old. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley, a sprawling suburb of Los Angeles. And there she stayed until after high school when her sister took her to Europe which was transformative for a “Valley Girl.”
The future high school teacher started preparing for her career at age five by lining up her stuffed toys to teach them the alphabet. When she was older, she wanted to be a writer, but her family steered her onto what they believed to be a more practical path.
“I always loved teaching, so it was not my second choice, it was my other choice,” she recalls. In fact, she started teaching on a volunteer basis at 16.
She graduated from California State University, Northridge and her first job was teaching English to eighth-graders. She went on to teach kindergarten, first grade, third grade and finally high school.
“I love their energy. Teens live in the moment, feel everything and experience each event as though it were the quintessential moment of their lives. I have a deep appreciation for how education changes everything and I firmly believe that the world’s most significant problems could be solved with education.”
Along the way, Michele raised three children and has a teenage daughter, Faith, that she placed with an adoptive family. The incredible story of Michele and Faith’s ongoing relationship through open adoption is the topic for a future book. She also plans to write a sequel to Before the Empress: Messages from Mount Kilimanjaro.
But for the next few years she’ll be teaching tenth-graders by day, and sparking conversations about the human experience the rest of the time.
“I like to explore the questions about how we fully participate in our own lives, how we make decisions that impact others and in what way we take charge of our responsibility to the world we will leave behind.”
The author welcomes opportunities to speak to audiences about mountain climbing, writing, and personal transformation. Email her details about your event.
The future high school teacher started preparing for her career at age five by lining up her stuffed toys to teach them the alphabet. When she was older, she wanted to be a writer, but her family steered her onto what they believed to be a more practical path.
“I always loved teaching, so it was not my second choice, it was my other choice,” she recalls. In fact, she started teaching on a volunteer basis at 16.
She graduated from California State University, Northridge and her first job was teaching English to eighth-graders. She went on to teach kindergarten, first grade, third grade and finally high school.
“I love their energy. Teens live in the moment, feel everything and experience each event as though it were the quintessential moment of their lives. I have a deep appreciation for how education changes everything and I firmly believe that the world’s most significant problems could be solved with education.”
Along the way, Michele raised three children and has a teenage daughter, Faith, that she placed with an adoptive family. The incredible story of Michele and Faith’s ongoing relationship through open adoption is the topic for a future book. She also plans to write a sequel to Before the Empress: Messages from Mount Kilimanjaro.
But for the next few years she’ll be teaching tenth-graders by day, and sparking conversations about the human experience the rest of the time.
“I like to explore the questions about how we fully participate in our own lives, how we make decisions that impact others and in what way we take charge of our responsibility to the world we will leave behind.”
The author welcomes opportunities to speak to audiences about mountain climbing, writing, and personal transformation. Email her details about your event.
