As a daughter of a Vietnam War Military Police officer and a sister to an Army Infantry Medic, Laura joined the Army National Guard as a Military Police officer in 2001 during her freshman year of college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received her Honorable Discharge in 2009. She served 16 months on active duty, spending over a year in Baghdad, Iraq. Laura's love of travel, living abroad, and serving others brought her to her current position as a middle-school principal. She treasures spending time with her husband and three children. Nature is her oasis. She also loves to read, socialize, remodel homes, and learn, as attested to in her two master's degrees: Experiential Education and Educational Leadership.