| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | This is such a difficult question to answer. I have vivid memories that go all the way back to preschool. After a lot of thinking I believe my most memorable childhood experience has to be eating my grandfather's breakfast. All of the men on my grandfather's side of the family were great cooks and his specialty was breakfast. It was a simple meal consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, fried potatoes and toast, but there's some intangible that I haven't been able to replicate. Perhaps it was the love and care he put into the meal as he prepared it. In his book entitled "Cooked," this is what Michael Pollan refers to as "hand taste." I would have been happy with a bowl of cereal, but whenever I spent the weekend at my grandparents' house and I heard him shout "come and get it!" I knew I was in for a treat. Keeping in the tradition of the older men, my brothers and I are now sharpening our skills in the kitchen with the hopes that we will have the opportunity to create memorable experiences for our grandchildren. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I've been told that I identify with my maternal grandfather. I take that to be a huge compliment because he is the one person that I try to model my life after. He was cool, but not in an apathetic or tough guy kind of way. He just had an aura about him that let people know that he meant business. I've never heard him yell or saw him get angry. He just lived his life with no complaints, even when his life was cut short by lung cancer. In my daily life I often think back to my grandfather and when things are going rough, I try to channel some of his cool strength and I'm able to get through whatever is challenging me. My aunts and my mother have told me that I remind them of "daddy." I think it's because like him, I'm even-tempered and I try not to stress about things that are beyond my control, but I still do my best to make life better for myself and my family. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | Two traits I admire the most in a person are integrity and grit. I think the two are closely related and what make an individual stand out from a crowd. Someone that actually does what they say they are going to do relies on integrity to keep them focused. A person with integrity knows the value of trust and strives really hard to maintain it. It's a hard thing to do and I think it's becoming a rare quality in people today. Social media and its focus on the quantity and not the quality of a person's interaction with people make it increasingly difficult for someone to be held accountable for their actions. To me, grit comes into play when someone can rise above the distractions and temptations that occur in life and continue to live by their motto. When one's grit is tested, they can learn from the experience and be a better person. The adversity faced will often reinforce one's principles and make them a more solid individual. In that sense integrity and grit complement each other. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | This is funny and embarrassing but while studying abroad, I got the best lesson in Japanese pronunciation on the dance floor of a loud bar in Tokyo. For several weeks in a row I had seen a really attractive girl and wanted to talk to her. After discussing it with another Japanese friend, he suggested that I tell her that she was cute. I was really nervous, but the next time I saw her, I decided that I would do it. It took all night, but I finally gathered the courage to talk to her. When I made my move and used my best Japanese phrase, she looked back at me, puzzled, and in perfect English said, "you think I'm scary?" Failure. Unfortunately, in Japanese the word cute, kawaii and scary, kowai sounded very similar to my foreign ear. So in speaking, the pronunciation was very similar too. I couldn't believe that a language that has several dozen expressions to describe clouds could have the words for cute and scary sound so much alike. That night was the first and last time I tried to use Japanese to talk to women. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | If time and money were no issue, I would love to travel to either Italy or France. As someone who appreciates all things food, I've always fantasized of traveling to some of the lesser known cities in different regions and experiencing the food and wine that is specific to a particular area. An adventure like that would transform me from a simple tourist to something like a local. Certain elements of French and Italian cuisine never make it to America or if they do, it's reserved for a select few. For me, the most realistic way of experiencing those hidden gems is if I were to pack my bags and disappear into Alsace or Calabria for an undetermined amount of time. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I currently have an eight month old boy, my first child. But before he came into my life I always knew that I wanted to pass on to my children my curiosity for the world and the beauty of discovering new things. When I was a child my father gave me a globe for my birthday and from an early age I became curious about the different parts of the world. When I was able to, I jumped at my first opportunity to travel abroad. While my peers were busy buying cars and clothes, I was trying to collect stamps in my passport. I've gained so many friends and unique experiences through traveling that I think it has had a huge influence on the person that I am today. I see the world in a different perspective and consider my community to be not just my neighborhood, but the entire planet. |
