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I grew up in small town America, mostly liked school and loved sports. My war was Vietnam. I have been fortunate in life.

Until recently I worked in a cube at Micron Technology. I was a manufacturing planner in research and development. I guess one could be curious about such a job but be assured, in the world of cubes you are just one of many and the day your cube is empty, it is as though you were never there. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for those seven years; they allowed my family and I too pursue and accomplish important goals. Those years no doubt gave me a perspective that I have learned to appreciate and they added to my world experience and insight.

But it was not always the world of cubes for me. Once upon a time I lived in a very big world. A world of teaming cities and night life, real jungles and white sand beaches: cities like Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Macau, Bangkok, Fukuoka, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Manila, Johor Bahru, and the jungles and beaches of Desaru, Boracay, Bali, and Grand Bahama. You see, I lived and worked in the Far East and Caribbean for more than twenty five years. I lived and worked in these places and with the people who called them home. These are the places where my own family was born and raised and these are the places where I took my world view and where I became more like the me I am now.

My life perspective is somewhat unique and I see a degree of value in bringing that perspective to the classroom and sharing it with young people. I want to be a supportive influence, a role model of sorts; to find that connection and teach them some of what the world has taught me. I want to be an advocate for the value of education and the doors that it can open for each child regardless of their inherent abilities.

Funny enough, I am not only studying elementary education but my focus is further defined with mathematics. My intention is to teach math to upper elementary and middle school students. My rational comes from being one who could not appreciate its value as a young person myself but as it turned out I found tremendous value in the things it taught me and support it gave me in the practical and business side of life. Much in life comes unexpected and I want young people to see the hidden value in mathematics that I did not. I think I can make that happen.