| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most memorable childhood experience is definitely something difficult to designate; there are numerous experiences which I will remember and cherish forever from my childhood that had direct influence upon my psyche today. However, if I had to choose one, it would definitely be one of the summer vacations I spent visiting my extended family on a countryside farm in Poland. It introduced me to vastly different cultural niches, esoteric values, linguistic norms, etc. which I am certain helped shape my current adaptability and awareness. I must have been about 13 at the time, and my entire summer was spent "growing up part-time" with other kids my age, working the farm, engaging with loved ones I hardly knew at the time, and coming of age (I repeated this summer experience for many years after with my family). |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I am most certainly closest to my brother, who is the closest in age to me out of all my siblings. We grew up doing nearly everything together and have always been best friends as a result. We have many projects that we are working on together professionally and creatively. We have a close social circle we are both part of. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | From the angle of personal association, I am absolutely convinced that the single most important character trait in an individual is loyalty. I'm no different than most in the sense that I recognize intelligence, compassion, creativity, sociability, drive, strength, etc. as exceedingly admirable traits in their own rights, but none of them matter if the individual in question lacks loyalty. Trust is by extension entirely dismantled, and trust is the fundamental prerequisite behind all deeply personal and meaningful human relationships, be they platonic or otherwise. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | One of the funniest things to ever happen to me in recent memory was a bit of an over-commitment on my part. I'm a very sociable person and have a rather large group of friends, and three close friends happened to be having their graduation parties at exactly the same time. Thankfully, they were all taking place within a 15-minute drive of each other, but I was still fully committed to each party due to overlooking the dates and times on my end before formulating my responses. One was a beach party, one was a casual barbeque, and another was a bit more along the lines of a formal soirée. There was no way I wasn't going to come through and fully engage with each of my friends' parties, so I put on swim trunks, a casual T-shirt and shorts over that, and a suit over that. I went to the first party, mingled, congratulated my friend, enjoyed a nice dinner with everyone, and later excused myself for a while. I went to my car, took my suit off, and quickly drove over to the barbeque. Once again, I hung out with everyone, congratulated my second friend, helped with the grilling, and eventually excused myself from there as well in a conserved hurry. I rapidly drove over to the third party, congratulated my third friend, cliff jumped, swam in the lake, played some volleyball, etc., and then excused myself for a third time. I then speed walked over to the run-down changing rooms, showered, blow-dried myself, put on my suit, and returned to the first party. After that it was rinse and repeat for a solid three cycles! No friend's feelings were harmed in the undertaking of this endeavor, and we all had a good laugh about it afterwards. Funnily enough, no one noticed my haywire spectacle until I informed them after the fact. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | If time and money were not an issue I would, without a single doubt, travel everywhere humanly possible on this planet. As cliche as that seems, I am entirely certain that I would choose to travel everywhere and attempt to experience absolutely everything. I am always looking to the horizon at the next adventure without fail. A few of my first choices at the moment would likely be Nepal and North India due to a current itch I have to see the Himalayas and take up mountaineering more seriously. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | When and if I have children at some point, I would like to ensure they adopt the same sense of duty and self-accountability my own father instilled in me, along with a healthy dose of spontaneity and openness to experience. Purpose, duty, and commitment are critical to living a fulfilling life, and that coupled with a daring and adventurous drive to experience and live to the fullest creates a very healthy proclivity to live with honor and no regrets. I am young and have much to learn, but I know this mantra is one to live by. |
