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Kasey Knutson: An Introduction

Hello, blog-readers!

My name is Kasey Knutson, and my hometown is Alden, MN. I am a Junior Elementary Education Major, with a Communication Studies Minor. I am attending Southern Utah University through the National Student Exchange program, so my home university is actually the University of South Dakota.
This is Donald Easton-Brooks, the Dean of USD's School of Education, and me at the Kappa Delta Pi Educational Honor Society initiation during the fall semester. I was one of only 30 members who were inducted.

Recently I have gotten into running distance races. My first official run was a 10-mile race in April of 2017. After that, in July, I split a half-marathon with my sister. To finish the year out, I completed a full half-marathon at the end of October. Each race had its own difficulty, but I enjoyed the challenges of them all. There is not a better feeling than completing a race (and not finishing last)!
"Goldy's 10" was the first race I completed in April, 2017. The iconic "medal bite" was necessary after my first race. Even though the race was put on by the University of Minnesota, I needed to sport my 'USD' tee. 
"April Sorensen half-marathon and relay" was the race I completed in July. My sister and I (matching outfits) split the relay, making it 6.55 miles for each runner. She wanted to be the first runner, so being experienced, I didn't argue. This made for a difficult finish, as temperatures had risen significantly from the beginning of the race. Regardless, we were all smiles once we finished. 
"Minneapolis Halloween Half" was the day that I finally had completed a full half-marathon. I ran this race with a friend from USD. Because it was a Halloween race, it was encouraged that we dress up in costumes. We threw around many ideas, but we finally landed on being Caribou Coffee latte cups with the pun being 'we run a latte.' After training in warm temperatures for about two months, the day of the race was almost freezing (35 degrees Fahrenheit). Needless to say, we found out what it was like to run in layers. 

I enjoy being outside and have a new found love for skiing. Mind you, I have only ever skied in MN, so UT skiing will be a step up from what I know. I also enjoy reading. I just finished the book The Arsonist by Sue Miller, and I would definitely recommend this mystery novel to a friend. Other than that, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, and watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S and The Office on Netflix.
My boyfriend and I skiing at Welch Village in Minnesota. We had planned on skiing together over Christmas break and the weather became unbearably cold for the day we had planned to go. We went anyway, in weather that had a high of 3 degrees Fahrenheit. 

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