Words do not suffice

When people describe themselves, they generally go for a list of accomplishments (that's what you can do, not who you are), personality traits (anyone can call themselves a "passionate hard worker"), or values (pretty good if you're living by them, but there's no guarantee you are).

I'm offering a problem without a solution- I don't think I can tell you who I am in a couple sentences either. But I do believe that there's enough signal on this website for anyone sufficiently interested to get a rough outline.

What I want

This is pretty important to knowing who I am, because I think it kind of tells you where I'm headed.

I want to keep moving and growing- always looking for novel experiences, never turning down an opportunity to go somewhere new. I want to make something- a product, community, or piece of art are all things I have messed around with and enjoyed building in the past. Mostly I want to be happy, and am constantly working on finding the balance between deferred pleasure and instant gratification.

Timeline

2000- Born. 8 lbs. 6 oz.

During this time I attended Jefferson Preschool, Whittier Elementary School, Edison Middle School, and Wheaton Warrenville South High School. I think I was a little bit of a weird kid, and while I grew up in an idyllic suburban setting I didn't really come into my own until the end of high school. Once I figured it out though, life was great and I had many friends. My greatest honor during this time was probably being voted to give the commencement address at graduation by my piers. This meant the world to a kid who's mom used to have to pay for his friends to go bowling with him.

2018- Graduated high school, moved to Nashville, TN to attend college

Vanderbilt University was a completely new world. Suddenly school was hard, but only because I couldn't coast through the stuff that I found boring. Once my classes were more aligned with my interests, or my professors sufficiently pretty (Mechanics of Materials, never missed a class, ended the semester with a 98%), things started feeling smooth again.

By the end of my time here I was sleeping in the campus makerspace, working on 5 different projects mostly completely unrelated to what I was doing in class. I'd be hard pressed to decide what mattered to me more, the note I received from the little girl I designed/built a prosthetic arm for or the honor of speaking for my senior design team to accept our award for most creativity and originality.

2022- Graduated college, traveled for the summer, moved to California with CelLink

Probably the most novel year I had to date- I graduated college, road tripped from Salt Lake to Banff (stopping at Yellowstone, Teton, and Glacier National Parks) with my family, backpacked through Thailand, then moved to San Carlos to start my first "big boy job."

2023- Moved to Austin, Texas with CelLink

I feel like I lived two parallel lives at this time, both incredibly rich and full of growth. I learned CelLink and I learned Austin in the ways that I prefer to learn things- headlong and completely invested.

2024- Started my first company

The time was right and I had an opportunity, I decided to take it. I dove headfirst into entrepreneurship and truly floundered in a way I have not before. I learned a lot about many things, but not yet how to tread water, much less how to swim in the direction I'd like to.

Now (Spring 2025)

I am pulling away from Universal Part Finder (my company), looking to experience work as part of a larger team again. I am still enjoying playing sports, though most of my physical activity is takes place working out in the mornings with my friends or in a run club. I am reading a lot, generally sci-fi or philosophy.