Me

How well do you really know me?

I guess I'm not a big communicator. Orally, at least. I do love to type/chat, though. Problem recently is that I haven't thought of anything to write about, so I was thinking, why not write about myself? I mean, I already do that here, but how many people that I know actually know much more than a handful of random facts about me? I'm that guy who's always there, very polite, extremely nice, but never seems to stand out. I'm never the one to do all the talking, especially start the talking. Engage me, though, and I might not stop. Look at me, I'm already off track! I want to just write. About myself.

Ok, about me. My parents and extended family are from Youngstown, OH and Western PA. My father is an Electrical Engineer, and my mother is an RN. I was born in Akron, OH, but we relocated to Columbus when I was 2 years old, where I've lived for all my life outside of college. I have two younger brothers, separated by 3 1/2 years (Matt) and 7 1/2 years (Mike). I don't have the regular sibling rivalry that is common in a lot of sibling relationships; we get along quite well. I don't like to admit it, but I am now the shortest of the three of us (and have been for a few months now). At least if Mike keeps growing, he can't steal my clothes anymore.

My youngest brother and I around Christmas 2011 (he was trying to dress goofy)

I'm a Roman Catholic, go to church every week, annoyed when I have to show up really early when everyone else flocks to church for "special occasions" like Christmas, Easter, etc. It's not a huge part of my life, but a very important one. That is, I don't have to go out of my way to "be Catholic," it's just who I am and reflects upon my morals and my actions. I have very strong convictions. No other way to describe it.

I grew up Powell, a suburb outside of Columbus, went to Catholic schools K-12. Went to St. Michael  for K-8, St. Charles for high school. Tough place, learned a lot, great memories. Really rigorous academics; I can definitely credit them for where I am today. Going into that place, I was just some super-shy kid who had always been told he was smart; there, I had to earn my spot. The amount of knowledge I gained there was incredible, but the wisdom I gained there taught me much more.

Stock photo of St. Charles

I am an Eagle Scout, which is a huge achievement. I encourage you to read more into it, as it's much much more than grabbing a few merit badges and going camping at random places! The amount of work you put into earning this along with all of your other high school work/life is really difficult. One funny thing, though, is that I earned it the day before my 17th birthday (the cutoff is your 18th birthday), so I like to kid that I got it the day before my birthday. February 22nd, 2006. I can remember the day. You go to a board of review - pretty much an interview with scout leaders about your entire career. I remember it very well; I had a sinus infection hahaha... 

The one thing that these scout leaders left me with was a sense of pride in myself. This pride, however, wasn't centered around the achievements I earned, but how I conducted myself earning them.

The biggest thing you're supposed to get out of Boy Scouts/Eagle Scout is leadership. One very large part of earning your Eagle Scout rank is planning, coordinating, and executing a service project for your community. You're in charge. A high-schooler, planning and executing a project, in control of scouts and adults alike. A very daunting task for a 16 year-old! Especially for a somewhat shy one. Don't get me wrong, I was/am very sociable, once I get started. I just don't self-start very well. I was liked by all, resented by none; very happy with where I was at. Without being a brown-noser, I was the one who would willingly do stuff that other people whined about in typical teenager-ish fashion. That visibly separated myself from most of the other scouts. Most of them were in it to have fun, finish the program, and be able to throw Eagle Scout on a resume. On the other hand, I had a genuine interest in the program - trying to get something out of the program actively, instead of passively. I was never a very vocal leader. Inspiring words are never my thing. Leading, though, is much more than words.

 Leading is getting people to do something, not because they have to, but because they want to.

I lead by example. Always optimistic (I can't say cheerful, because in certain situations, I wouldn't consider ironic self-depreciating sarcasm cheerful!), never showing signs of frustration, never giving up. People followed me not because they had to, but because they wanted to. I enjoyed working with kids. I loved positions in which I could interact with little Cub Scouts (I'm talking those hyperactive 1st and 2nd graders, here). I genuinely love kids! I know, that's weird, guys aren't supposed to like kids, that's wrong, ect. Whatever. If I didn't like engineering so much, my second choice of career path would have been a teacher for sure. At the end of my review board, they told me that I was one of the most compassionate, caring, nice people they knew. They say no matter what, never change that.

I guess I had a genuine open kindheartedness that you don't see very often. I don't know how else to put it, but I really care about others. I hate to see others suffering, I like to have people be happy. It really bothers me when someone is unhappy and I can't fix it. Unfortunately, though, I've run into people who were put off by this. They view my kindness as fake, they view my interest as clingy-ness, they view my sincerity as desperation. It hurts when this happens.

Getting back on topic, I graduated from St. Charles in 2007. Came to this little school out in the middle of nowhere called Ohio Northern. Studied Electrical Engineering. Graduating in under two months. Still looking for a job, looking for a life. 2012 is definitely the biggest year of my life!

Looking back, I can't help but feel regret for a lot of how things have gone so far. It feels like most of my time here was split between class/schoolwork and playing video games. I had friends, sure. Nobody I would  ever share anything personal with, though. Hurt a few times, rejected a few times; I was apparently too nice, too straight-laced, and not worth the effort. Resorted to playing video games all the time, instead of socializing. Sure, video games were very social with that tight-knit group of friends, but socialization never grew anywhere outside of that. Outside of those games, what else did I do? I never did anything.

This year, I really turned my focus to school. I've been working harder than I ever have, just to keep pace. A lot of my friends have/had graduated. Since then, I became more distant with some old friends, closer with other ones, and went out of my bubble to find some great new ones. Emily really said something that stuck with me at the beginning of the year: we're graduating at the end of this year, we can play games later - let's actually have fun with the people around us here. I'm sticking to that, and having tons of fun.

I'll keep adding and revising if I don't post this now, so here it goes. My main interests right now are: finishing senior design and graduating, getting a job, and hanging out with my friends. It's been a rollercoaster of a year, and it's not finished yet. Still, I'm excited to see where it takes me.