Interview by Mary Taussig
Where are you from and what are you studying at Colorado College?
I’m originally from Texas like all over the East from like Texarkana to Grand Prairie to Houston. Moved around a little bit as a kid. And yes, I’m a math person. I’m studying math here and am graduating in the fall. I actually will be doing the MAT program here at CC. I would like to teach math, probably secondary math. I’m going to be qualified to teach secondary math. Yeah I’m down to teach high school, but I really like 6th grade. I like pure math like discrete mathematics.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Climb…I like to climb. Often. So there’s like technical terms that mean certain things, but yeah, like outside with ropes.
Where is your favorite place to climb?
Red Rocks Open Space… no, I’m kidding that’s garbage. I like the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It’s pretty steep. Super long story, but to cut it short I got into climbing at this hole-in-the-wall gym owned by these two dirtbags in Florida. Pretty random, huh? I try to climb all year round, but I’m pretty garbage when it comes to ice… it’s hard. It freaks me out. It’s not permanently fixed, you know? It’s gonna melt in like four months.
How did you end up at CC?
Well, two weeks before I applied I didn’t know it existed. So, it was pretty random. I just met some friends at the climbing gym in town because I was going to Pikes Peak just down the road. I met some CC alum and they were like, “you should totally apply.” At the time I was really interested in fem-gen and sociology. Anyways, through friends. I’ve been here since 2013.
What experiences in your life have shaped who you are today?
The most influential experience I’ve had? I like math, but I didn’t think I would get a degree in it. The most influential I guess was being in the military, which like opens up this huge barn door of questions.
How long were you in the military for? Why did you join?
Six years. Joined right after high school. I don’t like finance and necessity. I didn’t really do too well in high school and military was like going to provide a means for education some day. You know, as long as they didn’t look at transcripts I’d be all right.
What was your role in the military?
I was in the Air Force and I was a submarine window repairman. Repaired submarine windows… in the Air Force. I spent sometime in Abilene, TX… there are no submarines there. There is no ocean there, but the submarine window industry is booming there. I was there for a couple of years and then I got stationed out here at Fort Carson, but I was in the Air Force. There were a lot of people that couldn’t tell me what to do really… because there are two different branches, so it was the best of both worlds.
Why did you leave the Air Force?
To educate myself because there wasn’t an opportunity to do so in the military. You were either on deployment or getting ready to be deployed. And getting ready to be deployed when it didn’t consist of like riding four wheelers and fishing was training and going state to state. It was a pretty good time when we would float around and go training.
Were you deployed?
Afghanistan for six months or so. When you’re repairing submarine windows, I mean it’s… you’re kind of in your own world you know. There aren’t many of us that can repair submarine windows. I’ll tell you what… it’s a very niche career field. Some people would call it an art form. I can’t really dive into the submarine repair business. I technically could go back and clean windows… repair them. It’s a dangerous job. But yeah, it really depends if I would go back. To be honest with you I flirted with the idea of going back and doing my old job like every time I see an article written in the New York Times about like another beheading. I would really like to go back, but I feel like there are other people to do that too. I actually just turned 28, it was a lot of gap years.
What is one piece of advice you have for CC students?
Jaywalking, man. But actually, it would be… when in doubt, run it out.