Time Capsule Essays

Please list the clubs and organizations you've belonged to in the past 12 months.

For more than half of the last 12 months, I was stationed in Kuwait with an army general support aviation battalion as a Blackhawk mechanic. Although the army isn’t a club, it is an organization that I was happy to be a part of. Since getting back, my life has revolved around buying my house, finding a good job, gearing up for school, and general re-entry into the US.


If you were a piece of technology, what would you be and why? (100 words or less)

Of the numerous pieces of technology we have, I would have to be a handheld GPS. Not one of the ones that go into your car to get you places, but one of the ones you can take out into the mountains or woods and really get lost. Think of all the places a well-loved GPS goes. I would much rather go to the cave that isn’t on a trail as opposed to the 4 star hotel. The life of a GPS would never be dull.

What makes you a unique individual?
As a camp counselor after high school, I was given the nickname MacGyver from my fellow counselors. I was the only one that had lived on a tropical island, gone to school in Mexico, driven an 18-wheeler, jumped from an airplane, worked as a nanny, and thrown a hand grenade. I think it’s the last one that got them. I truly appreciate people who walk to the beat of a different drummer. I have a poster in my room that reads “Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn’t hear the music.

What extracurricular activities or hobbies have you participated in, and what did you like most about each?

My senior year in high school I picked up the string bass. Often, the bluegrass band we made would go out to a community center where there was some bluegrass jamming going on. The best part of that was the family feel of going there, having dinner, and then playing music with your friends. Another passion of mine is Ultimate Frisbee. The best thing about that sport is the spirit of the game. My first game in a league, the guy I was defending explained that I was defending him wrong and then showed me how.

What's the most exciting thing you've ever done, and why was it so great?
When I was 12, my dad got the idea to go on a bike trip. There was a trail from Western NC to the coast that we decided to ride. We didn’t do the entirety of it, and we didn’t stay on it the whole time, but it became one of the strongest memories I have. Carrying our small amount of gear with us, outrunning storms, and racing to catch the ferry are just a few of the things that make this a memory that still makes me smile.

Describe your life up to the present.

I was born over 24 years ago in Wisconsin. A little after that, we moved to North Carolina, where I lived for the majority of my childhood. My parents’ love of traveling brought me to a 36 square mile island in the Pacific for two years as well as the opportunity to live and study Spanish in Mexico while I was in middle school. I joined the Army Reserves at 17, later switching to the National Guard. I’ve tried to go to college in the past. I’ve even been registered and attending. Unfortunately, the Army has the power to pull me out when they deem necessary. My parents and siblings moved to Arizona in 2005. I transferred to a unit in Phoenix shortly after they moved. Since high school, I have lived in 6 different states and 2 countries. I am now ready to have some stability and go to school for a good stretch of time.

I would say a core part of my personality is my interest in other people. I like to treat others with dignity, whether I am serving them as a waiter picking them up on the side of the road while they are hitchhiking. Everyone has a story and something to share. I do my best to make other people happy. I think it’s just as important to hold the door for someone, as it is do well in class, or make a large income. The places, and people I have grown up around have given me a very unique set of ideas and an interesting outlook on life. I’m just happy about it.