About Me
Farming
I grew up in the south-western corner of Virginia, first in the suburbs and then on a small farm. I like to say I spent my teenage years chasing cows up and down mountains - and it's about half true. Besides the beef and dairy cows, my family raised vegetables for a farmer's market and various other odd items like maple syrup, mushrooms, sorghum molasses, and tomato seed. My family still runs this farm, and every time I go back I drink fresh milk and stock up on comfort food that I can't find in a grocery store.
When I turned 19, I decided I had enough of farming and started down the path to becoming an engineer. I spent 2 years finishing up my high school at a community college before attending MIT for my undergrad in mechanical engineering. My years in undergrad were probably the most formative of my life. The classes and the research were amazing, but outside of that, two organizations really shaped who I am: MIT EMS and my dorm, East Campus
MIT EMS
On the ambulance I learned the basics of life-saving treatment, but I also learned how to talk with anybody, deal with the unexpected, and how to run an organization. I also made some of the best friends I'll probably ever have and I will never have a shortage of stories to tell.
Debriefing after a drill
East Campus
And at East Campus, I found a group of people that was just as excited as I was to be themselves, climb everything, build wild structures every year, and do things people said couldn't be done.
24 foot tall bridge with the fort in the foreground. Taken from the third floor DJ stand.
Cooking
I really enjoy cooking. Most of the time it is practical, pasta, sauteed vegetables, meat, and rice, avocado toast with a fried egg, or smoothies, but sometimes I cook something more fancy and find somebody with camera skills to document it.
Apple Pie
Travel
Sometimes I travel. In addition to a bunch of US states, I've lived for a few weeks to a six months in Korea, the UAE, Egypt, and Honduras, and I've visited the UK, Iceland, and Greece for shorter vacations.
