| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | Playing outside with my friends in the neighborhood. We used to have a tree-fort in the woods where we would hang-out all day. Other times we would play tag or hide & seek. Sometimes it was just board games, the pool or basketball and soccer. Time just felt so infinite then; we didn't have a care in the world! |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | My mom. She is the kindest and most thoughtful person I know. I learned so many of life's most important lessons from her: be a good friend to have good friends, be honest, always do what is right. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | Conviction
-Honesty
-Intellectual Curiosity
-Good sense of humor
-Wit |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | I once did the Napoleon Dynamite dance for a high school talent show. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | I would go to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Recently, I went to Japan and climbed Mt. Fuji. At the top of Mt. Fuji, I felt a strange sense of mysticism and spirituality. I am curious to see how my mind and body would feel at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | Fear, sadness, anger, insecurity etc. are natural emotions that we all have. Don't let those emotions rule your life and decisions. But at the same time, don't ignore those negative emotions either. They are a part of you. Cry and be sad or angry when you need to. And once you have felt your emotions and listened to yourself, remember that you have the power to self-author and make great decisions. In life, there is always hope, meaning and purpose, because we can always control our reaction to any event that life throws at us.
As Victor Frankl said: "Between a stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." |
