Jennifer Bock is from a small rural town in Maryland, where she grew up an hour away from the intricate and interconnected systems of Washington, D.C. and 5 hours and a $30 Megabus ride away from the bustling art scenes of New York City. Even as a young person she hoarded magazine clippings, postcards, and interesting wrapping paper designs worthy of attention and organized her schoolwork with binder tabs in a finely curated color coded system.

Jennifer attended one year at Christopher Newport University in southern Virginia before looking to transfer back home to Maryland. In a strange twist of fate, she declined acceptance to the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrell College of Journalism one week before being notified of a full scholarship award. Disappointed but determined, she humbly went back to her hometown community college to earn her Associate’s Degree in Multimedia Design with a certificate in Art History. She stayed local and transferred once again - this time to McDaniel College, where in 2014 she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Cinema studies.

During and after college, Jennifer had the pleasure of working at the public county library system. She served as a substitute librarian and Storytime Express driver - driving a 20+ foot bookmobile around the county and performing storytimes to community daycares, all with a penguin puppet riding shotgun. She finally was offered the position of Communications Specialist, where Jennifer was able to apply her creative education to program marketing, short documentary films, and quarterly magazine production.

Living in one’s childhood small town has its limits, and Jennifer felt as though she had outgrown the challenges and opportunities that were available to her there. Seeking a more rewarding environment, she sought out change. Just three hours after her divorce hearing in the local circuit court, she climbed into a rented Budget truck and drove 1,000 miles to her new home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Four days after arriving, she began her job at SouthWest Metro Intermediate District 288, serving her new community.