| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | I vividly remember the snow park. At the park, I would sled down the hills, get into snowball fights, and have picnic lunches with family. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I identify with my grandmother the most because she inspires me with her energy and zeal for living. She always is doing something active such as cooking, cleaning, or riding her stationary bike, and she always has a positive attitude about life. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | What I admire most in people is the balance they have between certain traits. For example, I like to see a balance between compassion and srength. I also like a balance between being routine and being spontaneous. Further, I like to see a balance between physical health and mental health. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | While working as a dishwasher at a restaurant, a buddy and I decided to take a break. As we were walking out to the alley in the back of the restaurant, we passed the kitchen area, and my buddy stole a cherry pie. When we got to the alley, we started to eat the pie, and just when I had stuffed a big piece of pie in my mouth, with cherries all over the side of my face, the manager walks out and nails us. I had so much pie in my mouth that I could not even say anything back to him while he was yelling at us. There was no denying it, we were busted, and I literally (and metaphorically) had pie on my face. Fortunately, we did not get fired. To this day, my buddy and I still refer to that pie incident. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | I would be interested in spending some time in the Amazon region on an extended eco-tour where I could help collect data on some endangered species. I would also be interested in an extended trip to India (Mysore, India) where I could study Ashtanga Yoga with some of the main instructors. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I would like to pass down to my children a systematic perspective of the world. Actions have consequences (whether we can see them or not). Everything in society is related and connected. I would want my children to recognize that these relationships are everywhere and to make choices that help to make their lives and society better. To this end, passing down the lifestyle choice of a vegetarian diet would be important. Also important would be the dedication and love for physical health andfitness. Exercise is the elixir to life and, in a big way, contributes to one's quality of life. I would also pass down the need to view the world critically in the sense that one has to view situations from multiple perspectives and to weigh all the evidence carefully before making decisions. |
