| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most memorable childhood experience was growing up in a wood cabin with my dad. He raised me in the mountains where he read Yeats aloud by our wood burning stove, prepared buckwheat for us every morning, and shared with me his rich appreciation of literature. He also taught me to embrace nature and solitude by taking me into the wilderness for extended backpacking trips. One of his oft-quoted lines is from Keats: “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter”. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I most closely identify with my dad. He has a wonderful willingness to engage on any number of thought-provoking topics, and always inspires deep conversation. I also admire him for the courage it took to become an author, a playwright, and a storyteller as a full-time profession. I greatly identify with him for his intellectual curiosity, and kindness with others. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | I admire people who strive to be self-reflective and honest throughout their lives. I admire those who maintain a growth mindset and show resilience and compassion regardless of changing circumstances. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | In my time in the U.S. Army Ranger School, a good friend of mine had gotten trapped in the roots of a swamp tree during a mission in Florida. There was an incredible lightning storm, and the team almost didn't see him trapped in the roots and water. I dropped my gear and jumped into the swamp to pull him out. He had badly injured his knee, and I had to carry him on my back for the rest of the evening in the swamp. We both laughed all night in delirium, making light of the situation. My friend and I graduated to don the coveted Ranger Tab, and still laugh to tears about the madness of that night years later. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | I would travel to Iceland to backpack the most remote geothermal regions of the country. I think Iceland has some of the most singularly beautiful and unreachable landscapes. With enough coin, it would be a joy to overcome the difficulty of reaching those most untouched areas. There is something very magical about areas in nature left truly untouched by civilization. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | When I have children, I would like to pass onto them the importance of having a good heart above all else. I would also want to make them feel safe and at peace with their own desires in life, and not pressured by the differing cultural myths we have about success. I would hope to nurture their nascent passions without pushing them too much, giving them a helping hand when needed, but letting them explore and strive on their own to find meaning in the world. I would also hope to pass on to them the goodness of vulnerability as strength, and in bravely being who they are, regardless of what others think of them. |
