Derek spent two years in Argentina as a missionary (2000-2002) then returned and studied Spanish at the University of Wyoming where he was also a member of Sigma Delta Pi (Spanish Honor Society) as well as its president for a year. He graduated in 2007 from the University of Wyoming with an MA in Spanish. Derek then taught for a year and a half at Idaho State University as a visiting lecturer in Spanish.  In the Fall of 2009 he began a Teaching Assistantship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he taught for two years.  Derek began teaching Spanish here at LWC in the Fall of 2011.