Daniel Girma is a senior who will soon be graduating from Middleton High School. Next year he will be attending Columbia University to study writing and music.. He envisions a potential career in journalism, but states that the performing arts wouldn't be bad, either.

The elder of two children, Dan and his sister both love learning, and both especially love writing. Strong academic influences, Dan's parents are originally from Ethiopia, His dad is a vascular surgeon at the UW hospital, and his mom is the owner of a Kuman Center on the east side of Madison.

Dan is full of personality and a ready conversationalist. When pressed, he said that high school was "a'ight", but feels that he is ready for the challenges that college life will bring. He looks forward to feeling really small both on his future campus, and in New York in general. When reflecting on his senior year, he shared that he most enjoyed Advanced Physics and Advanced Placement Language and Composition. English class makes him think which makes him happy, and with a smile he shares that "You just have to love the concepts of physics".

Dan possesses a wide variety of talents and accomplishments. He is the lead alto sax in the 7 o'clock jazz band at Middleton High School, was selected to the State Honors Jazz Band, and serves as the president of the Model United Nations Club. With an enigmatic smile, Dan shares that he tends to "read too much and sleep too little".

For an independent study project at MHS, Dan is at work on a manuscript dealing with the construction of a future society. To date, Dan has written several chapters of his dystopic novel, which has some parallels to other novels of this type, such as Brave New World and 1984.

For his reading at Mother Fool's Coffee House, Dan will be sharing excerpts from this work in progress. If you are interested in his work and want to secure a future copy of his book, Dan asks that "all payments be made in high five currency".

Thanks for your attendance and support!