| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most memorable experience as a child was reading before bed every night with my parents. When I was old enough, we took turns reading pages out loud, and eventually entire chapters. We read great classics like “The Hobbit,” “Watership Down,” “Where the Red Fern Grows,” “Tangerine,” “The Boy Who Ran For President,” and many others. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I identify with my father. He is a very intellectual man, and we have had many great conversations about all nature of subjects. We both enjoy a good book or discussing the finer points of a good movie. We share an inside joke whenever we hear someone misuse or misunderstand science or statistics. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | I admire tenacity. So many people these days cower in fear and wait for someone else to solve their problems. While it’s good to seek help when you need it, you still need to take ownership of your circumstances and do something to make them better. Whether it is large life decisions, like mine to join the military, or small ones, like the decision to ask a loved one to listen to you about your rough day, you must be the change you want to see. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | When I was very little, my parents taught me a code word, in case there was ever an emergency and a different adult had to take care of me. If an adult said the code word, then I would know my parents sent them and it was okay. If they didn’t know the code word, then I shouldn’t get in their car/house. Well as it happened, there was eventually an emergency, and my parents couldn’t pick me up from school. They didn’t think to tell the code word to the neighbor they sent to pick me up, so I got really scared and didn’t trust them. I refused to get in their car, and ended up walking the whole way home from school with them driving slowly next to me. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | I have already traveled extensively, but I would love to plan a trip to the British Isles and Norway. I want to attend the BBC Proms in London, largest classical music festival in the world. I want to hike through the highlands of Scotland and the mountains of Norway. I would love to travel the Arctic Circle in winter, conquering the cold, and experience the Northern Lights. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I hope to pass on my intense curiosity about the world and the universe. I value my love of learning, and I think that is something our world will always need in large supply. I also hope to pass on my love of the outdoors. While activities like hiking, camping, fishing, etc. help educate us and instill in us a desire to protect our planet, they also feed our soul and make us human. Finally, I hope to pass on my appreciation, if not my passion, for the arts. |
