About Me

My name is Zoe Covello and I am from San Luis Obispo, California (known for Cal Poly, being the birthplace of Zac Efron, and the town Oprah deemed, "The Happiest City in America"- see links page). I am currently studying at Penn State and am undecided in my major, although I'm very decided on the fact that math and science are not for me. I play soccer and run (last year I ran in the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in San Francisco and raised $5,000 with my mom for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) and I am (hopefully) joining the Penn State Crew Club this fall. I also started doing Krav Maga this past summer. Krav Maga is a self-defense martial art that was created for the Israeli Mossad. Long story short, my dad decided I needed to be able to protect myself once I was out in "the real world". Enter Krav. I actually ended up really enjoying it. I'm hoping to possibly pick it up again once I'm more settled in here. I love to travel as well. I spent the summer before my junior year of high school volunteering in Honduras. We built homes for two families, played soccer with the locals, and improved our Spanish. Then the summer before my senior year, I traveled to Argentina. We spent a week in Buenos Aires before flying to Salta (located in the north-west, by Chile), where we participated in home stays, volunteered, and again, improved our Spanish. I hope to leave Penn State fluent in Spanish after, possibly, studying abroad in Spain. Although, I am an anglophile, so studying abroad in Great Britain is also a possibility. I love everything British, from the literature, to the film, to the history and culture. Next summer I'm hoping to au pair in Great Britain and then travel around Europe with my family. I am an avid reader, some of my favorite books being The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings series, the Harry Potter series, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and Pride and Prejudice. I'm also a movie fanatic. I've even considered following this passion and turning it into a career. Movies I love include (series): Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Dark Knight, and (non-series): Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan, Love Actually, Pretty Woman, etc. I'm extraordinarily excited about the impending release of The Hobbit this December (I'm rereading it, so stoked!) and Superman next spring. I also get hooked on TV shows way too easily, the most current one being How I Met Your Mother, and past examples including: The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Parks and Recreation, New Girl, SNL, Downton Abbey, Family Guy, etc. Coming back off of my film tangent... I also play the ukulele and the guitar. I have music genes on both sides of my family, my dad's biological father was a country music star who mingled with the likes of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard and my mom's grandfather was a pianist who played with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. I like to think I inherited these genes (I wish I inherited these genes), however, I know that is not the case. But I do love music. All kinds of music. I like mainstream music, indie music, country music (some country music, to be more specific), rap (Eminem is my favorite), and Broadway (don't judge, I was raised by parents who made me watch Oklahoma! and West Side Story as a small, impressionable child). I also love writing. When I was little, I would write stories all the time. I think the furthest I ever got with my stories was finishing one chapter (I was so proud of myself). I even won $50 for a piece that I wrote and submitted in a local contest (actually, that was my shining moment). My grandfather supported this interest, for he too loves to write. When I was in elementary school, he actually composed a short fictional story about our family that each cousin (I have twelve cousins on my mom's side) helped with. I believe the chapter I assisted with included my sister and me traveling back in time with a doll to tell George Washington that he should cross the Delaware and attack the Hessian soldiers. My love of writing continued as I was placed in the classes of superb English teachers for my last three years of high school and a wonderful World History teacher my sophomore year, who had us read all different sorts of literature from around the world.
I also like making lists and using parentheses, a talent I have so kindly demonstrated for you in this post. And so, with your sanity in mind, I'm going to end it here, for now, so you don't have to read through anymore of my long lists that don't inform you of much, other than to support my claims that I like sports, traveling, books, movies, TV shows, and music.