| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most memorable childhood experience would certainly be going to the Grand Canyon with my parents. From a young age, they raised my brother and me to love nature, camping, and hiking. The trip to the Grand Canyon, however, was something else entirely. It was the first time I had ever seen anything like it, and it took my breath away. We hiked the canyon, explored, and had an amazing trip. Since that day, my favorite places in the whole world are the National Parks, and I've even been lucky enough to marry someone who loves them as much as I do. The National Parks have been a keystone of our marriage and our friendship, and we're raising our daughter to love them too. I'd be hard-pressed to choose a top Park, as they're collectively my favorite places on Earth, but the Grand Canyon will always be special to me because of that first trip with my family. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | Without a doubt, I most closely identify with my older brother. We were like fire and oil when we were younger, but now that we're older it's amazing just how similar we are. We obviously have shared childhood experiences, and we're often asked if we're twins (though I'm the taller one). Aside from my spouse, my brother is my best friend in the world. I can always count on him in any situation, big or small, and he's always there with a joke, snarky comment, and words of - sometimes questionable - wisdom for his younger brother. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | While there are many traits that I admire in people, above all else I admire persistence and kindness. With nothing else, I believe that people can not only make their own lives better but also improve the lives of those around them. With persistence, almost anything can be achieved. Even if you lack the skills, knowledge, or resources to accomplish something, persistence can provide you with all three. With kindness, I believe that the world can be made a better place, as everyone helps to lift each other up and take care of this planet we live on. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | My spouse and I spent some time in Hawaii. While there, my mom came to visit us while my dad was on a hunting trip. The three of us decided to go to the Dole pineapple plantation, as my mom had never been. At the plantation, there's a small passenger train that people can purchase tickets to take a tour of the grounds, the line for which is ALWAYS quite long. While in line, we ended up standing behind an older couple that we had met earlier in the day. The woman was in a wheelchair, with her husband pushing her around. Earlier that day, we had had quite a bit of friendly interaction with them (the woman in particular), including jokes and general friendly conversation. While the woman was in good spirits that day, including making self-deprecating jokes at her own expense about her wheelchair, her husband seemed rather distant, quiet, and for lack of a better term, grumpy. In line for the train, we three had been making small talk with the woman, while her husband grumpily stood by. At one point, I made a joking remark to her, saying "You know, we could probably ask the employees to tie your chair to the back of the train. You could be the caboose and have the best view out of all of us." Upon hearing this, the stony-faced husband started a wheezing laugh, which was the first emotion I'd seen all day from him! My wife, however, was mortified. As we laughed, my wife stared daggers at me, which only made us laugh harder. The angrier my wife got, the harder my mom and I laughed, until eventually we cried and could hardly breathe. To this day, my mom and I laugh about the fond memory, while my wife STRONGLY disapproves. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | This may be cheating, as it's not really one location, but I'd like to travel to and around South America. My spouse and I absolutely love to travel, as it brings together our two favorite things: food and scenic nature. Being such a history nerd, I've always wanted to go to Peru so that we could hike the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu. We'd also love to experience the Amazon Rainforest, as well as the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. After that, we'd head to Argentine Patagonia, to see the beautiful Andes Mountains and glaciers. We'd end our trip by heading to the Galapagos Islands. We absolutely love to go SCUBA diving, and I've heard that it's simply stunning there. In addition to the beautiful coral reefs, you can often see hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, manta rays, turtles, and much more. It really would be the pinnacle of a perfect trip. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | We are already lucky enough to have had a daughter. Much like the traits that I admire in other people, I hope to pass on to her and her future sibling that they should always strive to be good people. I want to teach my children to be kind and helpful/caring, while so many other people in this world are not. I also want to teach them to be persistent in pursuing their goals. While I want them to be successful, I'm not going to mandate what that success looks like. It's ultimately up to them what they want to do in life. Whatever their goals are, I'm going to pass on to them to be driven, motivated, and persistent in shaping their own lives and defining what success looks like to them. |
