Ms. Isabella Zink  |  History and Literature |  

Ascent Classical Academy of Northern Colorado

ABOUT ME

I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. After graduating high school (homeschooled K-12), I attended Hillsdale College in southern Michigan and graduated in December of 2023 with a Bachelor's degree in English and a minor in music. During this time, I also had the privilege of studying Shakespeare's tragedies abroad at Oxford University. 

My love of literature, history, music, and creating things extends beyond the classroom. I spend much of my free time reading, writing, making music, attempting whatever [sewing, knitting, crocheting] project struck my fancy, or exploring new places--be they historical sites or the beautiful mountains that are now so near to me!  

EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY

I believe humans communicate through story. To struggle with our nature, or our questions about God, morality, the universe, existence, reality, and the purpose or meaning of life, we embed those questions within a story, tell it, and suffer and rejoice alongside the characters. We ask alongside Shakespeare's Macbeth whether life is a tale "told by an idiot, full of sound and fury" (5.5.30). Then, we chuckle alongside Austen's Mr. Bennett when he observes that we "make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn" (Pride and Prejudice, 344). We tell stories that model virtue, such as Atticus Finch's conviction and commitment to justice, or Sam Gamgee's loyalty, and Frodo Baggins's persistence, even in the face of despair. Even better, humans love to retell true stories, especially the ones that model great virtue, and thus, literature and history blend together, with stories that connect to both (for instance, Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities). 

As a teacher, my desire is to guide students through stories that force them to wrestle with life's difficult questions and challenge them to grow their critical thinking skills, close-reading ability, and come to better understand humanity and their world as they develop these skills. I eagerly look forward to reading wonderful texts (both in history and literature), sharing great stories, and asking hard questions as we together engage in this work to become more fully human. This effort, I hope, will guide us all more fully into a truly good and happy life.

TOP SEVEN BOOKS: 

(In no particular order): Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov, C. S. Lewis's Perelandra, Jane Austen's Persuasion, and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

WHAT I'M READING: 

The Queen's Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, The Complete Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson

JUST FINISHED: 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth, The Odyssey,