Johanna Goetzel ’07 is about to graduate, having accomplished more than the average person does in a lifetime. She’s helped write two books, been on Nightline and in a New York Times cover story, and has a vast knowledge of fine wines. But I guess everyone would be as motivated had their babysitter been Jessie Spano.

Justin: You finished Wesleyan in six semesters. How did you manage that?

Johanna: Every semester I took seven classes, and that was more for my desire to learn and to be in the classes and to have the experience of the wonderful Wesleyan professors than to finish early. The semester that I took off from Wesleyan was a non-conventional semester abroad. I went to India on my own for three months during the summer, and after I worked for an orphanage for handicapped women and girls, I decided I really needed to do something with volunteerism in America. I had this opportunity to help write a book in New York City. I lived on the Upper West Side in an apartment that was far too nice for any 20-year-old and helped write a book that is going to be published in 2009. When I was [in] high school, I also helped to write a book. You may have heard of “Mean Girls.” The book that it was based on [is] “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” about the social hierarchy of women. My job after Wesleyan follows on my thesis topic and my fellowship at the Center for Humanities: I’m going to be teaching etiquette in Boston.

Justin: You were on Nightline?

Johanna: I was. In high school, I was interviewed by Ted Koppel as part of the “Mean Girls” phenomenon and about how the social hierarchy of women was constructed. The New York Times did this great cover article of us, and there’s a picture of me standing there looking really tough.

Justin: Where were you in the hierarchy?

Johanna: I choose not to answer that question.

Laura. You’ve lived about three lives already! Did you write a thesis?

Johanna: I did. It was for the FGSS department, and it was called “Food and Sex: Subverting the American Kitchen (1940-2007).” I analyzed the Food Network and moral and etiquette guides for women and the performative aspects of being in the kitchen and being a woman at home.

Justin: You were my TA freshman year.

Johanna: Being a teaching assistant for Cultures and Cuisine was a wonderful experience. It was offered through the Government Department, which was what the department granted John Finn as a concession for his love for food. They don’t recognize cuisine necessarily as equivalent to other government classes, so every few years he gets to teach this FYI or in the GLSP program. I really enjoyed being his TA, and then he was my thesis advisor. His work is about women and memoirs and how battered women communicate through food. He writes for Gastronomica, which is a really cool intellectual journal out of Williams College.

Laura: And you’re a red wine connoisseur.

Johanna: Yes. I know a lot about wine. I learned when I was in Italy, and in California we knew people who had vineyards. Through Bill Johnston of the History Department and John Finn of the Government Department who co-taught a wine appreciation course, I learned a great deal. Being a food snob is sometimes to my detriment.

Justin: Could you recommend a good red wine for the average poor college student?

Johanna: Meridian. It’s $9.99. It’s great, and they have it at Metro [Spirits] near Destinta. A good white wine that I’ve been into is Kendall Jackson chardonnay, but that’s a little more expensive. For $7.99 Mommy’s Time Out, which is a white wine.

Laura: You also work for Planned Parenthood.

Johanna: I was the Global Intern for Planned Parenthood of Connecticut when I was a sophomore. Above where Broad Street Books is used to be a Planned Parenthood where my mom worked. That was a compelling reason to come to Wesleyan. When she dropped me off to begin college as a freshman, she showed me a picture of herself standing in front of Broad Street Books delivering babies.

Justin: What were your duties for the Global Intern?

Johanna: To work with other Connecticut universities and to promote awareness of international issues that relate to women’s rights. The global gag rule was our main project at the time and framing reproductive rights as human rights.

Laura: Do you want to keep doing that after you graduate?

Johanna: Yes, working with women and activism is really important. In high school, I was part of an organization called Power. I was part of the girls’ advisory board, and it was about increasing self-esteem and thus making women more comfortable with their voice at the middle school and high school levels. Writing is something I’m really involved with– women’s narratives– so also in the thesis I got to bring those out. Showing that there’s legitimacy in food writing. It’s a true discipline akin to any other hard science. I’m thinking about applying to Ph.D. programs.

Justin: Programs for what?

Johanna: History, representation, gender studies. Different advisors keep giving me vastly different advice. Some tell me to get married, some tell me to get a Ph.D. in history, so we’ll see. I don’t think it’ll be marriage. Not immediately.

Justin: You had a famous babysitter growing up.

Johanna: Elizabeth Berkley, who you may know as Jessie Spano from “Saved By the Bell,” was my neighbor in Southern California, and she babysat for me. I have one of her dolls. She then went on after “Saved By the Bell” to do “Showgirls,” which I saw when I was seven.

Justin: The VH-1 version?

Johanna: No.