About Me

Growing up in the 80’s – 90’s gave me an appreciation for technology. Playing with my Atari, programming on my 286dx, setting up my first CD-Rom, soundcard, and memory upgrade. Who knew a few kb of memory can make a computer so fast! Times were different, but the same. Technology was used to make things easier, just as they are used today. Perhaps we have a few more colors to work with, and a few more cycles more to help speed things up, but it is foundationally the same. What is the difference? Tools. As power increases we have the tools to use that power to make the product better, faster, and cheaper. I am grateful that I lived in the foundational age, but I am more grateful for the tools that we have in this day and age. The good thing about this balance is that I am able to appreciate technology, yet did not grow up surrounded by it consistently. I became an eagle scout, mowed lawns, installed sprinkler systems, built forts, and did everything a kid should do. It also allowed me to see what life was like before technology. I learned what it meant to do “paperwork” and to look up information without the google search bar.

I have always loved jets. Something about the technology, power and precision. Because of that I became an Avionics Technician. For 9 1/2 years I spent my days fixing Communication and Navigation equipment, some older than my dad. Pretty funny considering I loved technology. But with the equipment’s age you learn a few things. First is organization. Newer equipment is disposable, but older requires millions of parts, and I was in charge of organizing them. That is how I got into programming. The tools were not fitting the need, so I created a system that did. Second, you learn to think differently. Instead of just plugging the part into a system and pressing a button, you had to know what was going on in the background and trace the path to the problem. As I work on becoming a Web Developer this is extremely useful. If you do not know what is going on behind the scenes when you change that line of code, you could really cause some problems. I also learned leadership skills as I became a supervisor. Nothing is more instructive than learning from others. Finally, and most importantly, I became a Christian in a small church in San Diego. CA.

After the Navy I was able to test my skills in the private sector. I spent a few years installing avionics equipment and testing aircraft components for certification. Unfortunately, bad economy leads to less flying. I then decided to use the GI Bill to get a degree. As I pondered which educational institution to attend, I worked at Southern Champion Tray. This was a great way to continue to cultivate my desire for problem solving and to express my organizational skills. I also began installing audio/video equipment, working on my Adobe skills, and photography. Each job allowed me to develop skills that I did not learn in the Navy and and was able to discover what I was really good at.

Although problem solving skills are good, you still need education. I moved to Lynchburg, VA and attended classes towards a Web Development degree. Here I was taught the tools that are at my disposal to solve those problems. HTML, CSS, PHP, VB, SQL, Java, Adobe, and so on. Previously I was only familiar with Photoshop and it was great learning the languages that are necessary to code websites, rather than just draw them up and slap them in. I had wonderful opportunities to volunteer for Christianaid, working on photo, video, and web projects as well as with Animal Connections, a small dog rescue. I was able to test my code, and work on websites what are on the way to becoming operational.

Outside of my educational endevour, I also got married! No problems to solve there, right? haha. I met my wife in 2012, finally marrying in October 2014. Whoever says that online dating does not work, we are proof that it does. We live in a working home, meaning there are many projects in the works, in the northern part of Charlottesville. We love the mountainous area, with places to hike and great local foods. My wife and I fostered dogs (until we met our Luna), refinishing our home, and enjoying Charlottesville. I graduated CUM LAUDE in 2016.

Since then I have employed as a Web Developer at Liberty University (Jul 2016 – Jul 2017), and now for The Army as a civilian, where I am currently employed. Both opportunities have helped develop my skills as a Web and UX Developer, as well as maintaining ITSM solutions. I have worked with ColdFusion (1 yr), Angular (4, 7, and Material – 2 yrs), Go Lang, as well as just basic vanilla javascript, CSS, and HTML (including HTML5). I am also becoming proficient in ServiceNow development and learning Cloud Solutions (AWS/Azure).