Jessica became interested in Degas’ New Orleans adventures after discovering that Degas was in fact born to a Creole mother. She enjoys reading about this Frenchman's southern connection because of her growing fascination with French culture in New Orleans (which began in the Fall semester with French 101). She began to wonder, however, why it was that Degas was the only French Impressionist to travel to the United States... Thus, ica embarked on a voyage (within the context of her Writing Seminar class on Impressionism) to explore his mother’s influence on Degas as the driving force behind his sojourn to New Orleans.
Jessica was born in Miami, Florida, but she spent most of her childhood in Israel before returning to the United States seven years ago. She graduated from Felix Varela High School in 2004. Having never lived in the Northeast, she enjoys the change in seasons but misses the warm beaches of Miami.
Jessica enjoys running, weightlifting, pastels and monkeying around; appropriately enough, her nickname is "Monita" (monkey in Spanish). She has no idea what she wants to do when she graduates Princeton, but she feels as though she has plenty of time to think of a satisfying occupation (that would allow her to monkey around).