| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most memorable childhood experience was traveling to see my family in Costa Rica when I was 9 years old. I remember being very young and walking through the jungle with my grandparents, and we saw a waterfall. To my young eyes, the waterfall looked like the most massive and incredible sight! Visiting that waterfall again as an adult, it's only ten or so feet tall, but as a child it looked so immense, and visiting with my grandparents felt so special to me. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I most closely identify with my father. My dad was born into very difficult conditions in rural Appalachia; however, despite his circumstances he worked very hard and achieved incredible upward mobility. He travelled to Costa Rica with the marines and met my mother there. He is an incredibly open-minded, adventurous, and hard-working man. Despite this he is an incredibly goofy dad! I love him so much, and I identify with him greatly the older I get. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | The traits I admire the most in an individual relate to how they make me feel. My mother always made people feel cherished and happy, and I always admired that effect she has on her friends and strangers. I admire how she is generous, loving, positive, and down-to-earth. Anyone that is grounded and always celebrates someone's success rather than feeling envy must live a very happy life, and that's how I aspire to be. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | There have been a lot of funny things that are making me laugh writing this response, but the first thing that came into my mind has to do with my high school graduation and my gown. I had just picked up my graduation gown, and at that time I was volunteering for the girls' soccer team. On that day, I had been running supplies back and forth, and I happened to leave a case of diet Pepsi in the back of my car. Well, in the sweltering heat of June, the Pepsi cans literally exploded inside my car while I was driving down the highway with my best friend. The sharp banging caused me to scream my head off, and my friend reported back what he was seeing in the mirror! Of course, all this Pepsi had gotten all over my new graduation gown, and I had to give my Valedictorian speech wearing a graduation gown stained in diet Pepsi. Even though I was the valedictorian, I did not feel very intelligent walking up the stage looking like a farm cow with my white gown stained in blotches of brown. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | I am very passionate about traveling, and growing up in an intercultural family, I am lucky to be able to travel back and forth from the United States and Costa Rica as a child and teenager. Despite my tropical blood, I have a deep love for arctic living and people that live within the arctic circle. If money were not a question, I would love to spend a month traveling in arctic communities in Greenland and Svalbard. Svalbard is an island chain north of Norway, and for many years I have been fascinated by their unique way of life and beautiful landscape. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I am absolutely interested in having many children, I would love to raise a big family in the future! My friends describe me as a very sunny, approachable, and optimistic man. My friends tell me that I am a good man to open up to and that I am a good listener. I would love to pass these qualities on to my children. I hope that they all grow up to be happy, personable, shining men and women. |
