About

The early days

Like most people, I’m shaped by where I’ve been. As a kid, I bounced around California. Different schools, held back a grade, never quite fitting in. When my family hit hard times, we moved to a small town where my relatives were from. My old high school had over three thousand students. This town had fewer people than that.

That move turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.

In that quiet place, I met people who saw something in me I didn’t see in myself yet. I had little confidence. I’d been told I wasn’t college material, and a childhood epilepsy diagnosis didn’t help. But that first year changed everything. I made lifelong friends, joined the jazz band, got back into Scouts, and earned good grades. For the first time, I felt like people actually believed in me.

By graduation, I wasn’t the same kid who’d arrived. Eagle Scout, working nights at the local hotel, Boys State Representative and even went to state for Academic Decathlon. I’d learned what it meant to actually care about learning. That small town gave me something I didn’t know I needed: self-belief.

The college era

I’ve always known what I wanted to do. I’ve loved computers for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is my uncle handing me his old Toshiba laptop running Windows 95. I was immediately hooked. I’d watch sci-fi movies, fascinated by the tech on screen, then spend hours formatting and reinstalling the OS just to see if I could do it faster each time.

I started at community college, planning to transfer into a CS program. Then I got sick. Bad enough that I ended up in a coma for a bit, with hospital debt to match. School had to wait while I got back on my feet. I worked full time in tech support, focused on paying everything off. I still wanted that degree, but full time school wasn’t an option anymore. So I found a program through NAU that I could do while working. By the time I graduated with my BS in Computer Information Technology, the hospital debt was gone. School debt too.

Now

After working for over a decade in private industry, from small startups to large corporations, I discovered my true calling in public service. Today I work in systems engineering within the public sector, doing work that matters for my community. Building, breaking, fixing, learning. I still chase that same curiosity that kept me reinstalling Windows 95. The tools are more sophisticated now, but the feeling hasn’t changed. Figuring out how things work, and how to make them better.

My curiosity expanded along the way. Cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, automation. The invisible plumbing that makes the modern world run. I build things. I test systems. I look for cracks so I can understand them, and maybe help others see them too.

I’m currently studying at Georgia Tech, working toward my Masters in Computer Science with a specialization in Computer Systems.

In 2021, I started volunteering for a local Search and Rescue team. My partner and I were looking for something to do as a volunteer, meet some new people and gain new skills. We ended up falling in love with it and the team. To learn more about what we do visit PNW SAR.

But work, school, and SAR are only part of who I am. I’m a husband, a dad, a climber of mountains, rookie photographer, and someone who still believes small actions and small moments can change a life. These days I’m based in Portland, Oregon. I write because I want to remember. I build because I can’t help it.

I don’t have all the answers. I just keep asking better questions. And I keep trying to grow into the person that younger version of me didn’t believe he could become.

This site is my corner of the internet. A place to learn out loud, build in public, and reflect as I go.