Meet Ms. Tully! She is English teacher extraordinaire and music lover! Below are a few questions and answers to help in getting to know her.

What college did you go to, and what was your college experience like?
I went to Univ. of Illinois – Champaign, and then I completed two different masters programs. If I had to give advice to my 17-year-old self, I probably would have said find a smaller college because even though I had a great time at college and my best friends, still to this day, are from U of I, it was a really huge school for me. Going into a liberal arts major and being from a small high school, it was more of an adjustment than I even realized at the time. So, I think my advice to all seniors would be to just think about all the factors in a college, not just what you want to study, but just what’s the environment going to be like? What is your academic life going to be like? What are the different opportunities for you? And, is it going to be too big an adjustment from what you’re used toor what you just like to be around.

What do you do in your free time?
What is free time? I raise children.   If I ever get the chance, I go running.

What is your favorite type of music and why?
I like everything. What I have on my iPod for running includes: Florence and the Machine, Kanye West, some very recent Beyoncé, and the Shins.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was really little I wanted to be a vet, and then as I grew up I wanted to be a writer, and then I wanted to be a film director for a while, and then three years ago, I changed my mind about everything and decided to be a teacher.

If you weren’t doing this job, what would you be doing?
If I were not doing this job, I would be working downtown for some little, small non-profit arts organization—doing what I used to do—applying for money for the MacArthur Foundation.

Do you have any funny/embarrassing stories from high school?
I’m sure that there were a lot of funny and embarrassing things, but it was so long ago that I do not remember, which is embarrassing because it shows how old that I am.

If you could bring three people to dinner, who would they be and why?                                                                          
I would bring -if I could choose living and dead, or famous or not famous – I probably would choose, not famous. I would bring my husband, and I’m going to cheat and bring  my two kids, and then bring my deceased grandpa because he never got to meet my husband and kids.

The world is ending, what is your last meal?                                                                                                                          
It would be one of those really long, 4-hour long French meals, where you start with lots of bread—crusty bread—then have like three more courses of sausage and cheese. You’re full by the time the main course comes, but you eat it anyway, and then you have lots of coffee and cake.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Why?                                                                                                    
I would go to France because I have never been. I always thought that I would go, and I would eat one of those 4-hour long French meals.