Monica Morgan of Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Growing up in Tallahassee	College in North Carolina	Marrying Toby	A New Life in Austin	Summer in New Rochelle
Monica attended Temple Israel Preschool, where she met Michelle, her BFF. Then came Apalachee Elementary, and (when we moved to another part of town) Sealey Elementary. At both schools, the Gifted program was the best part of school, and she also started the Yamaha piano school taught by Mrs. Whitaker, in which her Oma also participated, especially in the early years. She moved on to Raa Middle School, where she learned to play the flute. At Leon High School, she played the flute in the marching band and the bassoon in the off-season. Then the band director picked her to be the drum major, and she spent some intense years learning leadership while keeping up her studies. She graduated with high honors and many friends...including a transfer student from Arizona, Toby.	It was time for Monica to leave home, and she went all the way to North Carolina. She considered both Davidson and the University of North Carolina, and chose UNC for its higher energy level and multitude of things to study and do. Not knowing what she wanted to major in, she put down Music as a placeholder so she could take some music classes she wanted. Never finding anything she liked better, she graduated "With Highest Distinction"with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. She didn't enjoy the pressure of individual performance, but loved playing in concerts and musicals. All four years, she kept in touch with Toby via phone calls, email, and an occasional visit from Toby and trip to Houston, where Toby was enrolled at Rice University. During their junior year, they managed to take a semester abroad in Vienna at the same time. They lived in different parts of Vienna, but still were closer together than when they were in Houston and Chapel Hill. We visited there for a week too.	After almost four years of a long-distance relationship, they'd had enough of that. Just before Christmas, 2006, Toby proposed and Monica accepted. They planned the wedding during their last semester apart, and on July 26 they were married in Tallahassee. It was not a large wedding, but we still had friends of Monica's from North Carolina, friends of Toby from Texas and Arizona, and friends of both from Tallahassee. There also were relatives from a variety of places, including cousins from Maryland, New York, and Germany. Toby's parents, Mark and Sue, live here in Tallahassee, so we're hoping they'll spend a lot of time here.	Toby had a variety of good possibilities for graduate school, and chose the University of Texas in Austin. There he's majoring in applied math in the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. Currently he's working on models of ice sheet flow, an important topic in a world in which glaciers are melting. Monica intended to take a year off from school and then study music education at the University of Texas, and meanwhile took a job assisting with a toddler class at a Montessori School. She had volunteered at a Montessori school in Vienna, and thought she'd like some more of that experience. She fell in love with the kids and the Montessori way, and decided to focus on it.	This summer Monica studied at a Montessori training center housed at New Rochelle College, set in picturesque New Rochelle, New York, a suburb of New York City. As one can tell from herMontessori Meanderings Blog, she discovered even more about children--especially very young children--and about the Montessori method of education. She also enjoyed the New York area and made several visits to New York City, where her cousin Joachim lives.

Growing up in Tallahassee

College in North Carolina

Marrying Toby

A New Life in Austin

Summer in New Rochelle

Monica attended Temple Israel Preschool, where she met Michelle, her BFF. Then came Apalachee Elementary, and (when we moved to another part of town) Sealey Elementary. At both schools, the Gifted program was the best part of school, and she also started the Yamaha piano school taught by Mrs. Whitaker, in which her Oma also participated, especially in the early years. She moved on to Raa Middle School, where she learned to play the flute. At Leon High School, she played the flute in the marching band and the bassoon in the off-season. Then the band director picked her to be the drum major, and she spent some intense years learning leadership while keeping up her studies. She graduated with high honors and many friends...including a transfer student from Arizona, Toby.

It was time for Monica to leave home, and she went all the way to North Carolina. She considered both Davidson and the University of North Carolina, and chose UNC for its higher energy level and multitude of things to study and do. Not knowing what she wanted to major in, she put down Music as a placeholder so she could take some music classes she wanted. Never finding anything she liked better, she graduated "With Highest Distinction"with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. She didn't enjoy the pressure of individual performance, but loved playing in concerts and musicals. All four years, she kept in touch with Toby via phone calls, email, and an occasional visit from Toby and trip to Houston, where Toby was enrolled at Rice University. During their junior year, they managed to take a semester abroad in Vienna at the same time. They lived in different parts of Vienna, but still were closer together than when they were in Houston and Chapel Hill. We visited there for a week too.

After almost four years of a long-distance relationship, they'd had enough of that. Just before Christmas, 2006, Toby proposed and Monica accepted. They planned the wedding during their last semester apart, and on July 26 they were married in Tallahassee. It was not a large wedding, but we still had friends of Monica's from North Carolina, friends of Toby from Texas and Arizona, and friends of both from Tallahassee. There also were relatives from a variety of places, including cousins from Maryland, New York, and Germany. Toby's parents, Mark and Sue, live here in Tallahassee, so we're hoping they'll spend a lot of time here.

Toby had a variety of good possibilities for graduate school, and chose the University of Texas in Austin. There he's majoring in applied math in the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. Currently he's working on models of ice sheet flow, an important topic in a world in which glaciers are melting. Monica intended to take a year off from school and then study music education at the University of Texas, and meanwhile took a job assisting with a toddler class at a Montessori School. She had volunteered at a Montessori school in Vienna, and thought she'd like some more of that experience. She fell in love with the kids and the Montessori way, and decided to focus on it.

This summer Monica studied at a Montessori training center housed at New Rochelle College, set in picturesque New Rochelle, New York, a suburb of New York City. As one can tell from herMontessori Meanderings Blog, she discovered even more about children--especially very young children--and about the Montessori method of education. She also enjoyed the New York area and made several visits to New York City, where her cousin Joachim lives.

Monica graduated "With Highest Distinction" from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on May 13 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in music.

She married Toby Isaac on July 21, and they now live in Austin, Texas, where Toby is doing graduate study in applied mathematics at the University of Texas, and Monica is teaching music to children at a Montessori school.

Just after the festivities in the stadium

Toby and Monica, Dec. 2006

First batch of pictures from Monica and Toby's wedding on July 21: http://www.secondat.com/07TobyAndMonica/, courtesy of Toby's Uncle Jeff. More wedding pictures (courtesy of Ursula's Cousin Claus, Monica's Cousin Joachim, and Monica's friend Stephanie, are available on WebShots.

See her WebShots pages (links above) for pictures from Thailand, as well as Chapel Hill and Vienna.

Other pictures of Monica and her surroundings are available for free viewing on our family WebShots pages (see below). After viewing snapshots, return to this page using your browser's Back button.

Part 1: 2001-2003	Part 2: 2003-2004
Monica in Concert at Leon High Drum Major Monica and the Leon High School Band Monica Graduates from Leon High School	Monica at UNC Orientation Monica's Dorm at UNC Eating at UNC Visiting Dad's Cousin Jere in Raleigh